Stephen Lawrence murderer David Norris denied parole | Stephen Lawrence

A man convicted of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence continued to be a bigot in prison, using drugs, using a mobile phone, carrying a gun and abusing black and Muslim inmates, it has been revealed.

The revelations about David Norris, now 49, came as the Parole Board rejected claims he had changed enough that he could be released or transferred to an open prison.

Norris was freed 13 years after he was one of two men jailed for the racist gang murder of 18-year-old Lawrence at a bus stop in south-east London in 1993.

Norris denied involvement in the attack that killed Lawrence for years before his parole hearing, but later changed his story.

In the Parole Board’s decision, it was noted that Norris said he saw one of his drug dealing friends with a knife in his hand before running away after the murder.

The decision, which refused to name the person, said: “Mr Norris told the prison psychologist that he saw someone with a knife while he was running away and therefore thought he knew the person who stabbed the victim.”

Doreen Lawrence, Stephen’s mother, said: “He chose not to name the other killers despite admitting he could have done so. I am now calling for the police to interview him and find out who is responsible. Justice for me and my family is still possible. Yet the Met have made no effort to follow up on his confession.”

Stephen’s father Neville Lawrence said: “I hope Stephen will find the strength to uncover the truth about his other murderers so that they can eventually be brought to justice.”

Norris claimed that he stopped being a racist in 2003, when he was 27, due to prejudice triggered by his friends, and insisted that he had reformed.

However, the Parole Board’s decision reveals that Norris:

In 2013, he told his daughter that he did not want black grandchildren.

He threw feces at black and Muslim prisoners.

He was described by prison security as a “big racist” and bully in 2017.

He was threatened with attacking Muslim prisoners.

He used the N-word in 2022.

In 2023 he was suspected of converting a vulnerable young prisoner to racist ideology, with prison intelligence saying he was a “full-fledged member of the EDL” [English Defence League]”.

Norris partially accepted or rejected the evidence and completed courses on racism. He also said that he converted to Buddhism in 2019 and that spirituality is important to him.

The Parole Board’s decision stated that the racist abuse was “evidence that racist attitudes continued long after the crime was committed.”

Norris was convicted in 2012 of Lawrence’s murder along with Gary Dobson and at least four other white teenagers. According to the verdict, Norris said he was “trafficking drugs with other men responsible for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.”

Lawrence, 18, was surrounded by a gang who shouted racial abuse, including the N-word, before he was fatally stabbed near a bus stop in south-east London on April 22, 1993.

Norris was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 14 years and three months for the murder.

Parole Board documents say Norris admitted to recently punching Lawrence, which is why he was at the scene of the attack.

Undercover video recorded in 1994 and shown at the murder trial showed Norris talking about “skinning” black people and setting them on fire, using racist terms and fantasizing about violent acts against Asian and black people.

Doreen Lawrence said the parole application was a “gross manipulation of the process”.

He rejected claims that Norris had reformed: “He was nothing but remorse and, in my view, remains a dangerous racist who should never be let out of prison.”

Norris’s father, Clifford, was at the center of the Lawrences’ suspicions that corruption was negatively affecting the murder investigation, which he denied.

Three of the remaining prime suspects were not convicted of murder, and one of the possible sixth attackers died.

The Met said: “Our aim remains to arrest, prosecute and convict everyone responsible for Stephen’s murder.”

He added that he supported a review into whether new chances for justice could be found.