'No action' in Lawrence inquiry

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No further action will be taken against two men arrested in connection with the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry.

A police worker, 53, and a retired police officer, 62, were held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in December 2009.

But the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said the pair would not face prosecution.

Mr Lawrence, 18, was stabbed to death by a racist gang at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

The IPCC has said the investigation is nearing conclusion and its findings will be published in a full report in due course.

The arrests of the two men, who have now been released from bail, were the result of new evidence found by investigators that was not disclosed to two subsequent inquiries into the original police inquiry.

Private prosecution

There were fears that potentially vital information may have also been concealed from the murder inquiry and anti-corruption officers referred their concerns to the IPCC.

Independent investigators liaised closely with murder squad detectives in case any new information could come to light to aid a fresh prosecution.

Five men, Neil Acourt, his brother Jamie, David Norris, Gary Dobson and Luke Knight, were the prime suspects.

Three were acquitted of murder after a private prosecution brought by the Lawrence family collapsed at the Old Bailey in 1996.

A Kent Police inquiry took place into the case in 1997 followed by the Macpherson Report in 1999, which found evidence of "pernicious and institutionalised racism" in the Metropolitan Police.

A small team of Scotland Yard detectives continues to investigate the death of Mr Lawrence.