Four suspects in the murder of Stephen Lawrence have been ordered to pay damages to Lawrence's close friend Duwayne Brooks, who was with him when he died and was attacked by the same gang.

A judge at Central London county court has made an order that David Norris, Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt and Gary Dobson, along with 10 others involved in racist attacks, should pay nominal damages of £100 each to Brooks for assault, conspiracy and false imprisonment.

Brooks sued the defendants in their own capacity and as representatives of one or more racist gangs in south-east London, particularly those known locally as the NTOs (Nutty or Nazi Turnout) in Thamesmead and the Krays in Eltham.

It is the first court ruling against the suspects in the murder case. A private prosecution against three of the suspects in April 1996 collapsed and police have never charged anyone with the murder.

Brooks, 33, was the key witness and surviving victim of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence on April 22 1993. He says the pair were surrounded by a white gang who stabbed Lawrence to death, and that he too was surrounded and briefly "imprisoned" before he managed to escape. He was assaulted by the gang, after one of them shouted: "What, what ******."

His claim also states that some or all of the 18 men listed as defendants in the case conspired to "threaten, harass, assault and/or injure people, particularly black people, and to incite racial hatred", and that the attack on him and Lawrence was part of that conspiracy.

Other cases cited include the racist attack on Rolan and Nathan Adams in 1991, which resulted in the death of Rolan Adams and convictions for two of the defendants, Daniel Copley and Jason Goatley, and the racist attack on Marlon Conton in 1991, for which Kieran Hyland, one of the defendants, was convicted.

The video surveillance by the Metropolitan police in 1994, which identified racist language and opinions expressed by some of the defendants, was part of the evidence submitted. The murder caused Brooks post-traumatic stress disorder.

Judge Mitchell ordered that nominal damages should be paid to Brooks by 14 of the 18 defendants. Luke Knight, one of the murder suspects, did not challenge the proceedings until after the order was made but then instructed lawyers to represent him.

The judge agreed to set aside the case against Knight. He also set aside the order to pay damages in the case of three other defendants for whom up to date addresses could not be obtained to serve court papers. None of the legal issues in the case was aired in court and a default judgment was issued.

Brooks's solicitor, Jo Eggleton, said: "The case has moved slowly because it was designed to follow the criminal investigation into Stephen Lawrence's murder, and so the proceedings were stayed at first. When the stay was lifted none of the defendants challenged the claim. A default judgment was issued because of this. The judge was satisfied that in the case of 14 defendants they had had the opportunity to challenge the claims, although they had not done so."

Brooks welcomed the judgment. "I hope this judgment will be another step towards getting the people involved in Stephen's murder, and the attack on me, prosecuted. This case was never about getting money for me, it was about getting a judgment against these defendants.

"At the moment this is the only judgment against the suspects in Steve's killing. They may have got away with murder for the time being, but I really don't believe they will ever able to rest or have any peace."


Lawrence murder suspects pay damages | UK news | The Guardian