Institutional racism and unsolved murders

Mitch Mitchell, January 2014 In the 1990s, I went on several occasions with others from Anti Nazi League to the Stephen Lawrence enquiry which was hel at !lephant " #astle in Lon on$ %he outcome of that enquiry was the &acpherson report which i entifie institutional racism within the &etropolitan police force$ It highlighte several points a'out Stephen(s case) *n the night of the mur er, the police ha receive several phone calls i entifying the same people as culprits + 'ut they faile to follow up$ %he police initially investigate the mur er as a , rug eal gone wrong-$ .olice interviewe Stephen(s frien /wayne 0roo1s, who was with Stephen when he was mur ere , was aggressively as a suspecte /emocrat councillor in Lewisham3$ %he policeman lea ing the mur er investigation was a former schoolmate of #liffor Norris, a notorious local criminal an the father of one of the main suspects$ /ou'ts remain to this ay over whether #liffor Norris put un ue influence on police to e4onerate his son$ %he &et came out with the usual weasel wor s e4cuse) ,5e have learne lessons from this$ 5e are ta1ing steps to ensure these sorts of failures o not happen in the future$0ut the Stephen Lawrence case has several prece ents$ In 1969 7elso #ochrane was 1ic1e to eath in .a ington 'y a racist gang$ No one was ever charge with his mur er$ /ocuments have come to light which in icate police at the time wante to 1ic1 any suggestions of racially motivate 1illing into the long grass$ %his was espite strong evi ence lin1ing the crime with the #olin 8or an(s openly fascism National Socialist &ovement$ Interviewe at the time, 8or an sai ) ,It(s regretta'le that a man ie $ 0ut if he ha n(t 'een in this country, it woul not have happene -$ In the early hours of 19 8anuary 1991 at #lifton :ise in New #ross, 1; 'lac1 teenagers atten ing a 'irth ay party ie in a house fire$ &any suspecte a petrol 'om' attac1 'ut police sai that they coul fin no evi ence of arson$ *n <1 =e'ruary 1991 in %hamesmea , close to !ltham where Stephen(s life was to 'e ta1en two years later, Nathan an :olan A ams were surroun e 'y a gang of a'out 16 white youthschanting rug ealer$ 2/wayne is now a prominent Li'eral

racist slogans$ :olan was sta''e to eath$ &ar1 %horn'urrow was later charge an convicte of the mur er, receiving a life sentence$ 0ut no'o y else involve has ever 'een charge $ %he police initially put out a loa of ru''ish a'out inter>gang affairs an ,turf wars-$ %hey eventually ha to retract these claims, 'ut the amage ha 'een one$ %he A ams family, unfortunately, i not attract the same level of pu'lic 1nowle ge, sympathy or support as the Lawrence family were later to$ In 199?, :ic1y :eel in 7ingston>on>%hames was foun ea $ %he <0 year ol an some frien s ha

'een wal1ing home$ %hey were approache 'y two white youths who 'egan racially a'using them$ After an ensuing scuffle, :ic1y isappeare $ @is 'o y was later foun floating in the river$ %he police treate the matter as an acci ent$ Since then :ic1y(s mother has 'een approache 'y a woman witness who name someone currently in prison for mur er as involve in :ic1y(s eath$ %his information was passe over to the police$ 0ut they claime the witness ,may have learning ifficulties- an that her testimony was unrelia'le$ %hey are still insisting that :ic1y(s eath was an acci ent$ :ic1y(s sister, %ish, has since traine as a lawyer$ She now wor1s with Imran 7han, the Lawrence family solicitor$ In a recent interview in the In epen ent, she sai ) ,!ven if the 'ottom line of this is we never 1now, an I truly hope that is not the case, we can ma1e sure other families were never treate the way we were$ Aet that still happens now + which is what(s appalling 16 years on$I am not a lawyer$ 0ut I o won er if when someone is running away from an aggressor an has a fatal acci ent 'efall them, can the aggressors not 'e charge un er the lawB All these cases un ermine the notion that the police can 'e relie upon to investigate racist attac1s properly$ %hey are much 1eener on attac1ing an arresting anti>fascists, or on harassing innocent &uslims un er the prete4t of terrorism legislation$ An a to that the police(s actions against emonstrators) stu ents, tra e unionists an others who

suffer violent attac1s$ 5e have a real pro'lem with the police$