Baroness Casey

• More than 30 years after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, London’s Metropolitan Police have named a new suspect.
• As Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward remarked, the police made numerous mistakes in their initial investigation of the attack.
• Lawrence and his friend Duwayne Brooks were targeted in an unprovoked racist attack by a gang of white youths.

Arrests and acquittals

• But it was two weeks before they made any arrests.
• During this time, police twice observed the suspects removing large rubbish bags from their homes, potentially destroying incriminating evidence.
• This too resulted in acquittals, due to similar conclusions of a lack of evidence.

Macpherson inquiry

• Sir William Macpherson, a retired high court judge, was tasked with examining the circumstances of Lawrence’s murder and the police’s ineffectual investigation.
• The Macpherson report concluded that senior Met officials failed in their leadership, and outlined numerous examples of professional incompetence.
• As one activist declared: “We taught Macpherson and Macpherson taught the world.”

Impact felt today

• Two decades later, Macpherson’s damning declaration of the Met as institutionally racist has had limited impact.
• More recent studies have found little actual evidence of changes in police culture.
• The 2023 Baroness Casey review found that the force is still institutionally racist, as well as institutionally misogynistic and homophobic.