18-YEAR-OLD Stephen Lawrence was violently murdered in an unprovoked racist attack in 1993. His mother Doreen has since strived to expose racism in the Met Police – in the process becoming a baroness and receiving an OBE. Let’s take a closer look at her life. Who is Doreen Lawrence? Doreen was born in Jamaica in […]
18-YEAR-OLD Stephen Lawrence was violently murdered in an unprovoked racist attack in 1993.
His mother Doreen has since strived to expose racism in the Met Police – in the process becoming a baroness and receiving an OBE. Let’s take a closer look at her life.
Doreen was born in Jamaica in 1952 and emigrated to England at the age of nine.
She completed her education in South East London, before becoming a bank worker.
Born ten years earlier, her future husband Neville also moved to Britain from Jamaica and worked initially as a handyman and decorator.
The couple met when Doreen was just 17, and they wed in 1972.
Together they had three children – Stephen, Stuart and Georgina.
The couple were propelled into the public eye after their son Stephen was fatally stabbed at a bus stop in South East London in 1993.
Their tireless campaigning led to reforms in policing and brought the world’s gaze on to the “institutional racism” of the Met Police.
The couple divorced in 1999, six years after their son’s death.
But at the time Doreen said the divorce “wasn’t due to any pressure from the death of my son or the legal proceedings that we embarked upon in the last six years”.
Doreen Lawrence, now 68, was awarded an OBE in 2003 for services to community relations.
Her book And I Still Rise: Seeking Justice For Stephen was published in 2006, detailing her life following her son’s murder.
In 2013 she was appointed Baroness, and sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords as a working peer.
Doreen founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to promote a positive community legacy in her son’s name.
In April 2014, she was named as Britain’s most influential woman in the BBC Woman’s Hour power list 2014.
In January 2016 she was unveiled as the new Chancellor of De Montfort University, Leicester, serving until January 2020.
In April 2018 Doreen told the Daily Mail that the Met should stop their continued investigation into Stephen’s death if they don’t have any fresh leads.
And in August 2020, police investigating the murder of Lawrence said the case had moved to an “inactive phase” after they had exhausted all their lines of inquiry.
“The investigation into Stephen’s murder will also be periodically reviewed for any further investigative opportunities which may arise; for example, with advances in technology.”
Ahead of a new ITV drama chronicling Stephen’s story, Doreen suggested that she does not believe that she will live to see full justice for her son.
Speaking to the Mirror she said: “I don’t believe I will see full justice in my lifetime. Not with the way things are.”
Doreen Lawrence has two remaining children – Stuart and Georgina.
Her second son, Stuart Lawrence, is the younger brother of Stephen Lawrence.
Unlike dad Neville, 76, who said he had forgiven the thugs who butchered his son to death, Stuart said he can’t bring himself to do the same.
He has now been a teacher for more than 15 years and has dedicated his life to mentoring young people to find their paths
Every year on April 22, the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation holds classrooms and community activities to help people understand about difference and why it should be celebrated.
In 2020 after Scotland Yard said they have no further lines of inquiry to follow up over Stephen’s killing in 1993 – Stuart urged witnesses to come forward and give the family “closure”.
“If you do know what happened, this is the time now to speak up.
“In my mind that’s the only way we’re going to have true justice, if someone is brave enough to come forward and talk about what happened that fateful night and give us some closure, that’s what we want as a family.”
Stuart also said he realises justice being served like in a “story book” or “movie” won’t bring his brother back but it means the family can get closure.
“I’ve lost my brother, my mum’s lost her child, my dad’s lost his child.”
In May 2021, Stuart wrote in The Sun that his brother’s murder changed British attitudes towards racism – but there’s still more to do.
He said in response to the George Floyd murder that Britain should “reinvent ourselves as an example of an anti-racist country”.
Doreen’s daughter Georgina has stayed out of the spotlight after Stephen’s death.
However, their mother Doreen has in the past spoken of how it affected her.
Speaking to the Press Association, Mrs Lawrence said of Stuart and Georgina: “Their lives have been affected more than anyone would know from the outside.
“They do the best they can and, like me, they don’t really dwell that much, but you know in their moments how depressing it is for them.
“They’ve got their own families now. So, like we all do, they try to move forward and make the best of what they have. But those moments are always there, you can’t get rid of them.”
