David Norris: Stephen Lawrence’s murderer still refuses to name teenager’s other killers - more than 30 years on

Stephen Lawrence was murdered by David Norris, who refuses to name the teenager’s other killers.placeholder image
Stephen Lawrence was murdered by David Norris, who refuses to name the teenager’s other killers.

One of the men who killed Stephen Lawrence has a lack of racial awareness and should not be released, according to a prison psychologist.

David Norris still refuses to name Stephen’s other killers and maintains he protects their identity because he is worried about his own family’s safety.

The 49-year-old was questioned for a number of hours during the hearing on Monday. That was followed by a prison psychologist who told the parole hearing that he found Norris was an “unreliable narrator of his own life”.

Giving evidence to the hearing on Tuesday, the psychologist said: “Hearing the evidence it was quite confusing, as to sometimes admitting something, sometimes going back on that, being confused around dates.”

The psychologist went on: “I think sometimes he has good memory, good detail for certain things, other times less so… He’s obviously very careful about what he wants to admit to.”

The psychologist said he spent around nine hours with Norris spread over five meetings to assess him.

David Norris, 49, was jailed for life in January 2012 with a minimum term of 14 years and three months, which expired in December 2024. Stephen was 18 when he was murdered while waiting at a bus stop.

David Norris was convicted to life in prison, 19 years after they murdered Stephen Lawrence.placeholder image
David Norris was convicted to life in prison, 19 years after they murdered Stephen Lawrence. | police handout

On Monday, Norris was repeatedly asked who he was with on the night of Stephen Lawrence’s murder in 1993, but refused to name the other culprits, saying he feared for his family’s safety.

A parole hearing is taking place in public on Monday and Tuesday, with a day in private on Friday.

The hearing is taking place in a prison, and is being video streamed to a room in the Royal Courts of Justice where members of the public and media are able to observe proceedings.

Stephen Lawrence’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence is among those observing the hearing.

Norris, wearing a grey long-sleeved top and using a hearing loop, is visible only from behind.

He has been in his current prison for around two years, and works in the servery, where food is prepared and distributed, the hearing was told.

A prison key worker said he had come to the unit wanting to work on “reactions and perceptions of rudeness towards him”.

The prison psychologist said Norris has a lack of racial awareness, and is more likely to use racist language during times of mental ill health or frustration.

On Monday the hearing was told that Norris had been involved in clashes with Muslim prisoners, including claims that he had thrown excrement and used derogatory terms, which he denies.

While he has since made progress and mixes with other prisoners from varied backgrounds, the psychologist said he would not recommend release.

Norris should instead be moved to a lower security prison, category C, he said.

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