Stephen Lawrence murder trial: Put aside any anger and sympathy, judge tells jury

By
Ryan Kisiel and Stephen Wright

Last updated at 12:48 AM on 29th December 2011

Jurors in the Stephen Lawrence murder
trial were warned yesterday to put aside any anger over his death or
sympathy they might have for his parents.

Summing up, Mr Justice Treacy told the
panel of eight men and four women to avoid judging the matter on
emotions when they considered their verdicts.

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35,
deny being part of a racist gang that stabbed Stephen near a bus stop
in Eltham, South East London, in 1993.

Accused: Gary Dobson, left, and David Norris are on trial at the Old Bailey

Accused: Gary Dobson, left, and David Norris are on trial at the Old Bailey

‘Sympathy to the Lawrence family has
no part to play’, said Mr Justice Treacy, in his closing remarks to the
jury. ‘Equally, anger at the nature of the attack on Stephen Lawrence
cannot guide your decision.

‘It’s not necessary for every question
raised in a case to be answered or for every loose end to be tied up.
This is real life, it’s not a detective novel.

‘What you’ve got to do is look at the
facts of this case and ask yourself the question: has the prosecution
made us sure of these defendants’ guilt on the evidence we have heard?’

Stephen Lawrence: The 18-year-old was stabbed to death in 1993

Stephen Lawrence: The 18-year-old was stabbed to death in 1993

The judge, who has taken the rare step
of ordering the case to sit at the Old Bailey between Christmas and the
New Year, is expected to spend part of today concluding his address to
the jury before they retire to consider their verdicts.

Jurors were told they would have to
satisfy themselves that new forensic evidence, focused on Norris and
Dobson’s clothing, could be trusted in the face of defence claims that
lab tests were flawed.

The judge said the testimony of expert
witnesses did not have to be accepted, and some of their explanations
were opinion rather than hard scientific evidence.

He added that it was
not necessary to show that either man had struck the fatal blow if the
jury accepted that they at least knew that a member of their group might
stab Stephen.

‘Those are important questions for you
to consider, and if your answer is yes, then the verdict will be guilty
of murder,’ he said.

The court has heard Stephen, 18, was
stabbed to death in Well Hall Road shortly after 10.30pm on April 22
after being attacked by a gang of white youths who had shouted racist
abuse.

Dobson and Norris were charged after a forensic breakthrough during a review of the case in 2007 and 2008.

Sixteen fibres linked to the clothes
Stephen wore on the night were found on Dobson’s jacket and a
multi-coloured cardigan, or in the evidence bags they were kept in,
prosecutors say.

Scientists also allegedly found a tiny
bloodstain on the collar of Dobson’s jacket and a fragment of blood
around two fibres.

A bag used to store a pair of jeans seized from
Norris contained two of Stephen’s hairs, while fibres which could have
come from the victim’s trousers and polo shirt were found on a
sweatshirt, it is said.

Defence lawyers claim neither  Norris
nor Dobson was at the  scene at the time of the killing. Dobson was
living in Eltham and Norris in nearby Chislehurst.

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