Nearly 25 years after losing his first child, Neville Lawrence, 76, said the decision was the hardest he has ever made, and that he struggles to put into words the devastation caused to his family when his son was killed.
Stephen was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, south-east London, on April 22 1993 at the age of 18.
His father told the Press Association: “The fact that I had to lose my first child has been devastating. I can’t begin to explain the pain and the anguish me and my family have suffered over the past 25 years.”
He plans to spend the 25th anniversary of his son’s death in church.
Two of the group of up to six thugs who attacked the teenager and his friend Duwayne Brooks, simply because they were black, have been convicted of murder, but the rest have evaded justice.
David Norris and Gary Dobson are both serving life sentences, while three other men who have consistently been accused of the killing but never convicted are Jamie Acourt, 41, from Bexley; his brother Neil Acourt, 42, who uses his mother’s maiden name Stuart, and Luke Knight, 41, both from Eltham.
The initial investigation into Stephen’s death was hampered by incompetence, racism and alleged corruption.
A key moment was when Mr Lawrence and his ex-wife Doreen met Nelson Mandela two weeks after Stephen died.
“When I met him for the first time I was so inspired by his persona and the…
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