Stephen (2021) s01e03 Episode Script

1
My son's killers were identified
13 years ago.
I thought the killers
would just be arrested.
Never expected getting justice
to be my job.
Stephen's body was covered
in bruises and abrasions
from being kicked and punched.
There were two stab wounds, on the
right collarbone and left shoulder.
We've found Stephen's blood.
Found it where?
On Gary Dobson's jacket.
We're looking at a 15-year game
of pass-the-parcel
when it comes to exhibits.
If I was the defence,
I would be saying the blood stain
was the result of contamination.
So why do you need me?
Because forensics alone
won't be enough.
The DPP has agreed
that we can charge Gary Dobson
and David Norris
for Stephen's murder.
I hope to execute the arrests
within the week.
We're ready.
OK?
Yeah.
Yeah, just thought I should, er
you know.
He's had a long wait.
Today's the day.
Today's the day.
Let's get to work.
The world and his dog knows that,
for the last five years,
we've been investigating
young Stephen's murder.
One of our suspects
is a definite flight risk,
and if he gets a whiff
of what we're up to,
he'll be on the first flight out
to Belarus.
So, timeline.
The targets themselves
are in two separate locations,
so we need to synchronise
their arrests.
Number one is Gary Dobson.
How are we gonna find him?
Yeah, yeah.
He's, er, in Belmarsh,
doing a five-year stretch
for trafficking
350Ks' worth of cannabis.
To preserve
the secrecy of the operation,
we won't execute the arrests until
he's out of earshot of the screws.
Norris - bit more difficult.
No fixed address.
He's been crashing at mates' houses.
Currently residing in a room
above a pub in Greenwich.
Once we pick him up,
we take him to Sutton nick,
where there's a video link
to Camberwell Magistrates' Court,
so we can get proceedings underway
as quickly as possible.
So the boys at Sutton nick do know,
then?
I'm glad you asked me that.
Welcome to Operation Sirwoy -
a highly sensitive action
against a Tamil drug gang
operating out of East Ham.
Well, we had to tell them something.
CHUCKLES
Operation Sirwoy's targets
are Gurutither Dobaranga
and Daaresh Nattar.
GD and DN for short.
Any questions?
Sirwoy?
After Sir Roy Hodgson,
who took Fulham FC
all the way to the UEFA Cup Final.
You can be as indiscreet as you like
about Operation Sirwoy
because, of course,
it doesn't actually exist.
So, ladies and gentlemen,
I'm gonna have to ask you all
to hand in your phones
for the duration of this operation.
Today, you'll be going out
to arrest Gary Dobson
and David Norris on suspicion
of the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Good luck.
You coming with?
Thought you'd hang back here.
If this goes wrong,
I'm gonna answer for it myself.
What's this all about?
Police! Open the door.
Hands behind your back. Stand still.
David Norris, I'm arresting you
on suspicion of the murder
of Stephen Lawrence.
You do not have to say anything,
but it may harm your defence
..if you do not mention
when questioned
something which you later rely on
in court.
Anything you do say
may be given in evidence.
This again? Sweet.
For a minute there,
I thought it was something serious.
The riot squad's a bit much, innit?
Feel sorry for you.
Wasting your time,
to be honest, mate.
You could be out there,
chasing real criminals.
Book him in, quick as you like.
There's another one coming in
a minute, and I don't them to meet.
So I suppose you won't be needing
the Tamil translator, then?
Name?
I'd like you to tell me how
Stephen Lawrence's hair was found
on the jeans seized from
your bedroom on May 7th, 1993.
No comment.
I am asking you to account for the
presence of Stephen Lawrence's blood
on a grey jacket
found in your possession
at the time of your arrest.
No comment.
Is there any account
that you can give us right now,
so that we can go away
and prove your innocence?
No comment.
David Norris, you're charged that,
on the April 22nd, 1993,
you did murder Stephen Lawrence,
contrary to common law.
You do not have to say anything,
but it may harm your defence
if you do not mention now something
which you later rely on in court.
Anything you do say
may be given in evidence.
Do you have any response, Gary,
to the charge of murder?
Nothing whatever. No comment.
Done?
Done.
Hello?
'Mr Lawrence? It's Clive.'
Clive.
Oh, sorry.
I always forget the time difference.
Is it?
It's five in the morning. Go on?
We arrested and remanded them
this morning.
'We're going to trial.'
Thank you, Clive.
Now Thank you.
After a lifetime
of waiting,
the parents of Stephen Lawrence
were in court today
for the start of a trial of two men
accused of stabbing
the Black teenager to death.
What forensic scientists
found on clothes,
including a bomber jacket and jeans
alleged to belong to the accused,
Gary Dobson and David Norris,
is at the centre of this trial.
The question facing the jury is how
the fibres and fragments got there.
The prosecution case against
Gary Dobson and David Norris
is that they participated in
a joint attack on Stephen Lawrence.
This was a group
of likeminded young white men
who acted together in
the execution of this attack as one
on seeing two young Black men.
The only discernible reason
for the attack
was the colour of their skin.
Members of the jury,
on the night of his murder,
Stephen was wearing
a red polo shirt.
Fibres from that shirt
were found on the clothing
of both Dobson and Norris,
and a human hair matching Stephen's
DNA was found on Norris' jeans,
and a spec of Stephen's blood
was found on the collar
of Dobson's jacket.
The charge brought against
Gary Dobson
is based on unreliable evidence.
At the time Stephen Lawrence
was being attacked,
Gary Dobson was at home,
at his parents' house.
He is innocent of this charge.
Now, the, er, papers in this case
are voluminous
..but the actual physical evidence
upon which this charge is based
wouldn't fill a teaspoon.
The truth is
that, in the 13 years preceding
this apparent forensic breakthrough,
there were manifold opportunities
for blood and fibres
from Stephen Lawrence
to make their way
onto Gary Dobson's clothing.
Members of the jury,
the simple fact is Clive.
..David Norris was not in Eltham
on the night of April 22nd, 1993.
The clothing seized from his home
did not belong to him.
He is entirely innocent of
Sure.
Yeah, bye.
It's Duwayne.
What about him?
He's here, isn't he? He's on soon.
He's here, he's here,
but his dad died.
Oh, God.
He passed away last night.
We'll just have to reschedule,
won't we?
Let me talk to him.
Here.
Thank you.
I wanna do this for Steve.
And you will, but, er
take a few days, eh?
I'm sure we can shuffle
things around. I'm here now.
It's amazing that you are,
and we're grateful.
But this is gonna be tough.
No.
They've been let off the hook
for long enough.
I'm ready.
I heard a voice from my left,
so I turned.
These guys were
running across the road.
One of them shouts,
"What, what, nigger?"
I was afraid, so I ran.
I shouted to Steve to run.
I thought he was just behind me,
but when I turned
..when I turned around
The jury should be aware
that Mr Brooks' father
sadly passed away last night.
He has chosen to give evidence
as planned.
If you require a break at any point,
Mr Brooks
I'm OK.
The group converged on Steve.
When I looked back,
I saw one of the guys had a weapon,
ran straight into him, and then
..wham.
Just like that.
What was the approximate size
of the weapon you saw?
It was about this big,
and it was shiny.
But then Steve jumped up,
so I was relieved.
He caught up, and we were running.
We were both running.
Then he kept asking me,
"What's wrong?
"What's wrong with me?"
That's when I saw blood
was streaming out
from around his neck
..through through his jacket.
I'm sorry.
We was running
..and Steve's blood
was dripping on the floor
Mr Brooks,
would you like to take a break?
I can deal with this quite quickly.
No. No.
I wanna say what happened.
He kept saying to me,
"What's happened to me?"
And I told him to just keep running
because I was frightened that
the guys would come back round.
He then said to me
One last time, he said,
"Duwayne"
and his voice was all funny.
And that's when he fell
at the tree.
Thank you, Mr Brooks.
No further questions.
Mr Brooks?
Um
..you did him proud.
I hope it works.
It's time we had some justice.
Come on, Mum.
He was asking questions.
Who was?
Your brother.
He was scared.
He wanted to know what was
happening, and I wasn't there to
..to answer him.
Mum
I wasn't there
to hear him, to comfort him.
The motive for the murder
of the London teenager
Stephen Lawrence
was set out in court today.
It was, said the prosecution,
the colour of his skin.
The jury heard how he was swallowed
up by a gang of white youths
who had shouted a racist insult.
Our crime correspondent Jon Clements
was at the Stephen Lawrence trial
and heard today's evidence.
You searched Mr Dobson's bedroom
on May 7th,
seizing a cardigan and a jacket,
exhibit LH/5.
Where did you find the jacket?
It was in the wardrobe,
hanging up with some other clothes.
I took it off the coat hanger,
folded it up
and put it in an exhibits bag.
Miss Holden in your role
liaising with the victim's family,
you visited the Lawrence household
on April 23rd, 1993,
the day after Stephen died.
Then again April 25th,
27th and 28th,
with a final trip on April 29th.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
Hmm.
When you searched
Mr Dobson's bedroom on May 7th,
did you not think to yourself,
"Just a minute -
"I was in the Lawrence household
just last week.
"It might not be a good idea for me
to be at the two different scenes"?
It was over a week later,
and I was wearing different clothes.
Also, I do wash fairly frequently.
Hm.
I didn't think there was any risk
of contamination.
Are you absolutely sure?
And can you swear, on oath,
that you didn't wear
any of the same clothing?
Positive.
We're talking about events
almost 18 years ago.
How can you be so sure?
I knew I was going into a search,
so I chose clothes that, if they got
soiled or whatever, didn't matter.
We support Mr Roberts.
The jury has been
sufficiently educated
on the clear opportunities
for contamination.
That didn't go too well today,
did it?
The defence are just doing
their job, sowing doubt.
Long way to go yet.
The jury only wanna know one thing -
how did Stephen's blood get there?
In the end, they can't answer
that question, and we can, tomorrow.
I hope you're right.
Mr Jarman, you and your team
carried out microscopic analysis
of the suspects' clothing.
Could you tell the court
what you found?
We made a number of finds.
There were fibres
matching Stephen's polo shirt
found on Gary Dobson's jacket,
and fibres matching
Stephen Lawrence's green trousers
and red polo shirt were found
on David Norris' sweatshirt.
Fibres that matched the cuff
and wristband of Stephen's jacket
found on Gary Dobson's cardigan.
The two hairs found on David Norris'
trousers were a 1,000-to-1
mitochondrial DNA match
to Stephen Lawrence.
A blood stain matching Stephen's
was found on the collar
of Gary Dobson's jacket.
The defence have repeatedly
raised concerns
regarding cross-contamination.
In your view, is it possible
that the blood staining
to Mr Dobson's jacket
could have occurred later, at
Eltham Police Station, for example?
The nature of the staining,
the fact that the blood
has been absorbed into the fibres
of the jacket,
indicates that the blood
was still liquid
when it made contact
with the jacket.
Er, you said earlier that
the blood Where are we now?
.."must have been wet" when
it was transferred to the jacket.
Is it possible that blood fragments
were moistened
during the course of the tests
you and your team carried out
on the jacket?
Well,
this was a hypothesis we explored.
In the event, we discovered that
exposing the fragments to moisture
caused them to become gel-like,
but not liquid.
This did not produce
a comparable stain.
It couldn't soak
into the weave of the fabric.
Isn't it true
that different blood samples
taken from the same individual
can have different compositions,
different characteristics?
Well, yes, there are a number
Simple yes or no will suffice.
And the rigorous tests
you carried out,
exposing blood samples to moisture,
they have not actually been carried
out with the specific blood sample
on the collar of the jacket.
Well, no, that wouldn't be possible.
But that does mean, does it not,
that we cannot completely exclude
the possibility
that the stain was produced
by your own testing?
In terms of likelihood,
the probability
It wouldn't be right to exclude it,
would it?
We haven't excluded it.
However, it is
a statistical impossibility.
The probability is so low as to bear
no mention in any reasonable,
rational argument, which leaves us
with the more viable conclusion
Thank you, Mr Jarman.
..that the Thank you.
..that the wearer of the jacket
was involved in the attack
on Stephen Lawrence.
Is this right?
The defence are trying to stop us
from showing surveillance footage
of Dobson and Norris?
Yeah, they claim that
character evidence isn't relevant
and could prejudice the jury.
But this is
a racially motivated murder.
Whether those two are racist
or not is very relevant.
That's exactly
what Mr Ellison is arguing.
Let's hope the judge sees sense.
But for now, all we can do is wait.
On the bright side, Mr Jarman didn't
do too badly yesterday, did he?
Not what the papers are saying.
I told her not to look at them.
I wanted to see
what the jury are reading.
The jury aren't allowed
to read the papers. Oh, please.
"Stephen Lawrence trial.
Forensics do not fit."
Well, th-that's not right!
The defence haven't proven
any contamination.
I mean, where are they
getting this stuff?
Excuse me. Excuse me.
Are you in court 15?
Er, no, I'm 16, the Lawrence case.
Your case.
Are you sure?
Because from
what you've been writing,
I'd swear you were watching
a different trial.
I mean, anyone reading it
would think the prosecution
was about to collapse.
Where are you
getting your information from?
To be honest, we're getting
most of it from your press office.
They seem, er, pessimistic.
The Met are feeding you this?
What are you doing?
Think I know where all the negative
coverage is coming from.
Unbelievable.
That's how the brass work.
They wanna lower expectations
in case it doesn't go our way.
Or maybe
they don't want a conviction.
We're getting called back in.
The judge said yes to the tapes.
Oh, that is a result!
And now,
we get to cross-examine them.
How come?
Well, the defence
aren't gonna want that horror show
to be the only impression
the jury get of their clients,
so they'll have to put 'em
on the stand.
'He got my arm,
twisted it behind my back,
'started mucking about.
'And I had a Stanley knife
in my pocket,
'so I pulled it out,
I bit the thing off, and I said,
' "That'll do there, Mick, before
I end up fucking cutting you."
'All fucking day, he was
getting on my nerves, you know?
'I said, "You tap me once more,
you silly cunt,
' "I'm gonna just
fucking slice this down you." '
'If I was gonna kill
myself, do you know what I'd do?
'I'd go and kill every Black cunt,
every Paki, every copper,
'every mug that I know.
I'm telling you, right?'
'I'd go down Catford,
places like that, I'm telling you,
'with two sub-machine guns.
'I'd take one of them,
skin the Black cunt alive, mate.
'Torture him, set him alight.
'I'd blow the two legs and arms off
and say, "Go on, swim now." '
The court has just watched footage
filmed 17 years ago,
when you were a young man.
We heard you frequently use
racial slurs.
How do you feel about that language?
Well I think, with that, like,
I've always listened
to hip-hop over the years,
so I used to use the N-word.
We heard you threaten violence
against a Black colleague.
Were you a violent man at that time?
No, not at all.
All it was
was a bit of friendly banter.
Workplace banter kind of thing.
A bit of bravado.
Can you account for your whereabouts
on the evening of April 22nd, 1993?
I was at home. I stayed in.
I had some curry,
played on the computer,
and then later, about half 11,
I went to Neil and Jamie's house.
Why did you visit
the Acourt brothers' house?
Just visiting my mates.
I wanted to borrow
a Bob Marley CD off 'em.
So, to confirm, at 10:40pm, the time
of the attack on Stephen Lawrence,
you were at home?
Yeah.
Gary, did you have anything
to do with the events
that led to the death
of Stephen Lawrence?
No, I didn't.
Mr Dobson,
how can you account for a jacket
stained with Stephen Lawrence's
blood being found in your wardrobe?
I never even wore that jacket.
Never? Well, I wore it to school
once or twice,
and I had the complete mick taken
out of me, so I never wore it.
The problem is, the jacket
appeared to be heavily worn.
It had cigarette burns,
a broken zipper.
Yeah, it was worn.
It got worn, but not by me.
Who had been wearing it, Mr Dobson?
My mum, my auntie, my brother.
Your auntie?
Yeah.
I suggest to you that you went out
with your friends that night.
You were coming home across Well
Hall Road at about ten thirty,
and you saw two Black boys
on your manor.
You saw their very presence
as a provocation. No.
And you attacked them, didn't you?
Definitely not. Absolutely not.
Did you have anything to do
with the death of Stephen Lawrence?
No. Certainly not, no, sir.
The jeans seized by police
from your home on May 7th, 1993
..did they belong to you?
No, sir.
They were my brother's jeans.
They'd have been too loose for me.
How, Mr Norris, can you be so sure
you were not in Eltham
the night of the murder?
Cos I'm innocent.
You insist you were nowhere near
the scene of this murder,
and yet, as we have seen, fibres
matching Stephen Lawrence's clothing
and hairs matching
Stephen Lawrence's DNA
were found on your clothing.
Is there any innocent explanation
for how those hairs and fibres
could have got on your clothing?
Nothing at all.
A little earlier,
we heard a recording of you
saying you would like to kill
Black people.
You have a murderous hatred
of Black people,
don't you, Mr Norris?
No. No, not at all, sir.
The truth is, you and your mates
attacked that young Black boy
that night, didn't you?
No, absolutely not, sir.
It was a school night.
There's no way David
would have been out at that time.
How can you be sure?
I had a routine,
and I was very strict with it.
They all knew they had to be back.
Mrs Norris, isn't it true
that this is the first time
there has been a breath
of this alibi?
It is, is it not,
a recent invention?
No, that's not right.
Why has it only just occurred to you
that your son
was at home at the time
of the murder?
I didn't realise at the time
that it was a school night.
Of course, David wasn't actually
going to school, was he?
At 16, he'd finished school.
Why would a school night
have any relevance to him?
He had to stick to my rules,
the same as the rest of my kids.
My son would have been at home.
I went into the kitchen at 10:30pm,
and that's when Gary came in
and made toast.
He had a pair of shorts on,
so I could see he hadn't been out.
Mrs Dobson, in your 1993 statement,
you say that Gary came down
to the kitchen at 10:45pm.
Why has this changed?
Well, 10:30,
give or take a few minutes.
Stephen Lawrence was killed
shortly after 10:30pm,
a few minutes away from your home.
If we give Gary ten minutes, if we
have him in the kitchen at 10:45pm,
the time you gave
in your original statement,
then he no longer has an alibi.
No, he didn't do it.
He wasn't there.
Gary was in all evening.
Those two women.
If it was your son
..wouldn't you encourage them
to take responsibility?
I mean, if you don't
give your children a conscience,
then what have you given them?
I think you've got
an optimistic view of human nature.
I meet a lot of young people
in my work in schools.
Some of them tough, you know.
Have to fend for themselves.
Mothers working shifts.
But most of these kids, when you
take the time to get to know them
..they ain't bad.
You can see that
they've been given some goodness.
My grandmother raised me.
She was tough, but she was kind.
She drummed it into me -
be kind to everyone.
She didn't have much, but
..she gave me that.
And I gave it to my children.
There are a few
key questions you must answer
before reaching a verdict.
You must decide
if the blood and fibres
found on the accused clothing
came from Stephen Lawrence.
If you're satisfied on this point,
you must then consider
whether you can exclude
the possibility of contamination.
The character of the defendants
is irrelevant,
unless you are convinced
by the physical evidence
putting them at the scene
of Stephen Lawrence's murder.
We shall reconvene on January 3rd
for the jury
to consider their verdict.
And I wish you all, in advance,
a happy New Year.
Got you some birch
for the fireplace.
Yeah, it, er
burns hotter than pine.
Smells nicer, too.
You don't need to chop down a tree
just to pop over for a cup of tea,
you know, Clive.
Thank you.
Any plans for New Year?
Oh, I'm too old for all that.
I'm on baby-sitting duty.
You're worried, aren't you?
It's the waiting.
This festive break
is not good for my nerves.
Well, I've had plenty of practice
with waiting.
Normally, when the jury retires,
that's it.
Whatever will be will be.
But, er this case
..your family, er, needs justice.
Clive, I've sacrificed
18 years of my life
fighting for justice for Stephen,
but even if we win this case,
it won't be job done,
not for me.
To get this close
You did all you could, but justice
is bigger than this case.
# For auld lang syne, my dear
# For auld lang syne
# I'll take a cup of kindness yet
# For auld lang syne
# For old lang syne, my Joe
# For auld lang syne
# I'll take a cup of kindness yet
# For old lang syne. #
The judge said
a reinvestigation of the case
had led to new scientific evidence.
The two accused men questioned
the handling of that evidence.
'Would all parties
in the case of Dobson and Norris
'please report to court 16?'
'Would all parties in the case
of Dobson and Norris
'please go to court 16?'
Time to be put out of our misery.
Will the defendants please stand?
Would the foreman of the jury
please stand?
Have you reached a verdict on both
cases on which you are all agreed?
We have.
The verdicts in this case will
be received in complete silence.
Do you find the defendant
David Norris guilty
or not guilty
on this indictment of murder?
Guilty.
Do you find the defendant
Gary Dobson guilty
or not guilty on this indictment
of murder?
Guilty.
He's innocent!
He did not kill that man!
You've condemned an innocent man
here today.
Hope you can live with that.
Is DCI Driscoll in court?
Yes, sir, My Lord.
You've been leading
this investigation since 2006.
Yes, My Lord.
This is a case that has shamed
and humbled the Metropolitan Police.
However, you and your officers
have worked incredibly hard,
and you deserve to be commended.
A measure of justice
has finally been achieved.
On the evidence before the court,
there are at least
three other killers at large.
I expect you will continue your
efforts to bring them to justice.
Yes, My Lord. Thank you, My Lord.
Congratulations, Mrs Lawrence,
Mr Lawrence.
We got there in the end, eh?
Mr Lawrence.
Yeah?
Congratulations.
Thank you, Clive.
- Do you have a statement?
- Why did this take so long?
What's your reaction
to the verdict?
What about the other suspects?
As senior investigating officer,
I welcome today's verdicts.
This is a case
of extraordinary importance,
not just to
the Metropolitan Police
And all this time,
I thought you were SIO.
..but to society at large.
Only if we'd lost.
We know that
there were more than two attackers
involved in this murder.
I would encourage any member
of the public who has information
that could support our ongoing
investigation to come forward.
Today is not
a cause for celebration.
How can I celebrate
when my son lies buried?
Now that we have
some sort of justice,
I want people to think of Stephen
not only as a Black teenager
murdered in a racist attack.
I want people to remember him
as a bright, beautiful young man
that any mother
would have been proud of.
I miss him with a passion.
My greatest hope
..is that these people now realise
that they've been found out
..and they're gonna lie down
in their bed
and think that
they are not the only ones
responsible for the death of my son.
And they're gonna give up
the rest of the people
so that I can come out here again
in a year's time
and talk to you people again.
Mr Lawrence, do you?
Thank you.
Do you have a message
for the other suspects?
You know, for so many years,
I resented those men
for not repenting.
But seeing them in the court
HE SCOFFS
..I pitied them,
to be honest with you.
You must have felt
as though a great weight was lifted.
I'm not ready to forgive. Not yet.
But, for the first time
..it feels possible.
I can imagine leaving them behind.
The Home Secretary,
Theresa May,
has ordered a review
into allegations
that police corruption hampered
the original failed investigation
into the murder
of Stephen Lawrence.
Mark Ellison QC, the barrister
who secured convictions
against two of Stephen's murderers
earlier this year,
will head the review.
Stephen's mother, Doreen Lawrence,
is meeting with the Home Secretary
to clarify the terms of reference.
Mr Ellison.
How lovely to see you again.
Do you know how many man hours I've
spent trying to get hold of these?
That's funny, it took me about
15 minutes to dig 'em out.
Thank you.
Anything else I can do,
just let me know.
We're all on the same side,
after all.
Like the judge said, we've got
three killers still at large.
The way I see it, your case is
only as good as your best witness,
and my hope is that the convictions
will sway a few key people
who were previously, er, reluctant.
As you can see, the following people
came forward in '93,
but were never followed up on.
We're very hopeful
of being able to track them down.
Before we get into the detail,
I think we should discuss
the oversight of the case
and management of the investigation
going forward.
Dropping off those tickets.
Fulham-Arsenal.
One for you, one for Stuart.
Ah, looking forward to it.
Stuart said
he'll try and go easy on you.
What is it?
They're letting me go.
They're sacking you?
Compulsory retirement.
Huh!
There'll be a handover.
They asked me
to hand over my rapport with you,
as a matter of fact.
They can't do that.
I'll talk to the Home Secretary.
I'm two years over my 30.
It's, er
It's at their discretion.
They could keep me
on if they wanted to, but, er, well,
they don't want to.
This is how they reward you
for getting convictions?
They should be giving you medals.
It's all right, Doreen.
It's like you said - justice is
bigger than a couple of convictions.
I mean, they can stop me,
but no-one's ever gonna stop you.