An independent inquiry should examine the Metropolitan Police’s bungled handling of information about a sixth suspect in the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, according to MPs.
Labour’s Clive Efford said the police were “expert… at mishandling information relating to Matthew White”, who the BBC named as the sixth suspect in the case.
The MP for Eltham, where 18-year-old Mr Lawrence was murdered in April 1993, said the latest revelations raised the “suspicion that yet again corruption hampered” the investigation from the start.
Mr Lawrence as murdered by a group of five or six racist attackers in south-east London, but only two of his killers have faced justice, Gary Dobson and David Norris were jailed for life in 2012.
The BBC last month named White, who died aged 50 in 2021, and outlined the bungled handling of the evidence against him.
Two witnesses said White had confessed to being present during the attack, one of whom, his stepfather, was not spoken to by police until 20 years after the murder because officers had previously misidentified him.
Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Mr Lawrence’s mother, expressed fury that White would never face justice because of police mistakes.
The Met said White was arrested twice over the murder, but on both occasions there was not enough evidence for a prosecution.
Mr Efford told a Westminster Hall debate: “The conclusion of the Macpherson Inquiry was that incompetence not corruption hampered the investigation.
“But what the police were expert at was mishandling information relating to Matthew White. So many times can it be explained by incompetence.”
He raised questions about the case, including: “Why did (former Met commissioner Cressida Dick) state when she shutdown the ongoing investigation into Stephen’s murder that ‘there are no viable lines of inquiry’?
“Will the Met now apologise and accept that that wasn’t true?
“Why was chief inspector Clive Driscoll forced to retire when he had uncovered more discarded evidence that warranted further investigation and has resulted in Matthew White being named as the sixth suspect?
“All of this means that there should be a further inquiry, which must be completely independent of the Met.
“What has been exposed goes beyond incompetence and we cannot leave it here.”
Labour MP Marsha de Cordova (Battersea) said it appeared there is a “cancer, that is deep-rooted, of corruption within the Metropolitan Police and it appears to still be live and kicking”.
Ms de Cordova, intervening on party colleague Janet Daby (Lewisham East), said: “Firstly, the Met needs to be dismantled once and for all.
“Does she also agree that yes we absolutely need an independent inquiry into this, but also the Met commissioner now must also be held to account for these actions.
“It cannot go on any longer that justice is not served for the Lawrence family.”
The Casey Review, published in March, found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic in the wake of a series of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and Pc David Carrick being unmasked as a serial rapist.
Home Office minister Sarah Dines, responding to calls for an independent investigation, suggested MPs should wait until the recommendations of Lady Casey’s review have been acted upon.
Ms Dines said: “I look forward to the work that Baroness Casey outlines into us having more confidence in the Met Police, and I think that it is right that that work is done, and it is right that there is a little time given to do that work and that we must expect progress.”
“Though we have seen progress in the Met in a number of areas since the awful murder of Steven there is much to do.
“It is imperative that the Met working with key partners including HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) continue the process to restore the public’s confidence that they are getting the high quality of service that they desire and we all have a right to expect.
“The government has confidence in the commissioner’s leadership and his plans to turn around the Met, to ensure the force is delivering for all communities.”
She concluded: “My thoughts are with the family of Stephen for the loss of their loved one, who have had such a shattering loss.
“We can’t bring him back, but we can do more to strain every sinew to learn every possible lesson from this awful crime.”
