David Norris, one of two men convicted of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, has been denied parole after the Parole Board ruled he remains a danger. The 49-year-old had applied for release or transfer to an open prison, claiming he had reformed and ceased to be racist, but the board rejected his claims.
Evidence presented to the Parole Board showed Norris continued to display racist attitudes in prison, including abusing black and Muslim inmates, possessing drugs and mobile phones, and being suspected of grooming a young inmate into racist ideology. Prison intelligence described him as a “fully fledged member of the English Defence League” as recently as 2023.
Norris, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years and three months, had for years denied involvement in the attack but later admitted punching Lawrence and being present at the scene. He told a prison psychologist he saw someone with a knife after the murder but refused to name the person. Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, called on police to interview Norris to identify the other attackers.
The Parole Board ruling noted that Norris had completed courses on racism and converted to Buddhism in 2019, but concluded that his racist abuse in prison was “evidence of continued racist attitudes long after the committing of the … offence”. Doreen Lawrence described the parole application as “a gross manipulation of the process” and said Norris “remains, in my view, a dangerous racist who should never be let out of prison”.
Three other prime suspects remain unconvicted for the murder, and one potential sixth attacker has died. The Metropolitan Police said its objective remains the arrest and prosecution of all those responsible, and it backed a review into new opportunities for justice.
