Stephen Lawrence family fury over police change

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/06/stephen-lawrence-family-fury-met-police-change

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The police officer leading the hunt for the remaining killers of Stephen Lawrence is being forced to retire despite growing confidence that more of the gang involved in the racist attack could be brought to justice, a key witness has told the Guardian.

Duwayne Brooks, the surviving victim of the attack that killed Lawrence, has warned that the best chance to catch the racist murderers may be lost because the head of the investigation is being forced to retire aginst his will.

Brooks escaped the attack by a gang of at least five youths in April 1993 which ended with Lawrence, 18, being surrounded and stabbed to death at a south-east London bus stop. The head of the murder investigation still hunting them two decades on, Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, is facing enforced retirement later this year.

Brooks said Driscoll and his team had unearthed fresh leads in the case. Driscoll, who has served for more than 30 years with the police, will retire later this summer, led a reinvestigation that saw two men convicted of murder in 2012, 19 years after the killing.

Originally, a series of blunders by police in the weeks after the stabbing had led many to believe that the murderers would never face justice.

Brooks described Driscoll's departure as a "terrible blow" and said that many breakthroughs in the case were down to the detective's personal style. Brooks claimed that he and many other witnesses would talk only to Driscoll because he had spent years winning their confidence.

Despite Driscoll's successes, the detective had been "stabbed in the back" by his colleagues, said Brooks. There were unauthorised leaks to the media, and some officers had claimed credit for the success in unearthing the forensic evidence that led to two convictions.

Brooks, now a Liberal Democrat councillor in south London, said Driscoll had never been publicly commended by his bosses despite securing the convictions.

In January 2012, an Old Bailey jury unanimously convicted Gary Dobson and David Norris of Lawrence's murder based on new forensic evidence.

Brooks said the detective's integrity and straightforward personality had been crucial in convincing witnesses, put off by claims of police corruption and cover-up, to come forward. "People think he's a great guy. He's honest, that's what built my trust in him. He kept his word. He has spent years building up relationships with people. His normal-bloke style has won over witnesses who wouldn't speak to the Met before."

In a statement, the Met said: "The MPS remain firmly committed to retaining a dedicated team of detectives to continue the investigation into the death of Stephen Lawrence. The MPS have put in place a succession plan, which includes the appointment of a new, experienced senior investigating officer, which we will discuss privately with the family and other interested parties.

"DCI Driscoll will retain a key role in the Lawrence investigation until his retirement in June, which will include a thorough handover to his successor."

News of Driscoll's departure was first published by the Daily Mirror, which quoted him as saying: "The decision has been made above me, and I will always help Stephen's family and friends if I can."

Stephen's mother, Doreen, now a Labour peer, criticised the decision: "I'm absolutely furious Clive is being taken off the investigation. It seems the clearest sign yet that the Met is planning on winding down the investigation, and that is wrong. He is the first officer I have trusted and the only one to have delivered in the investigation."

Lady Lawrence has asked for a meeting with Met commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Driscoll completed his 30 years' service in 2011, and was kept on through a contract to see the case against Dobson and Norris through to court.

Met chiefs have discretion to keep officers with over 30 years' experience on and do not have a policy, which some forces have adopted, of making those with 30 years or more service retire.

At the Leveson inquiry in 2012, Driscoll said that leaks from the investigation he headed into the murder of Lawrence had worried him, his team, and people they were working with.

He said he had received allegations that a senior member of Scotland Yard had passed unauthorised information to the media.

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