The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence urged politicians to not reverse the progress made on racial equality in the UK following the murder of Henry Nowak.
Labour peer Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon shared her comments after Tory politicians invoked her son’s memory and asked whether the Government would be “scrapping the police anti-racism commitment”. She bemoaned her multi-decade battle for justice and how her son’s name was used to evoke calls for justice.
Lady Lawrence told the House of Lords today: “My condolence goes out to Henry Nowak’s family. I think what’s happened with him should never have happened. And the police should be at fault for what happened on that night.”
View 3 ImagesNowak was fatally stabbed in December last year (Image: Hampshire Police)
She later added: “Now, when my son was murdered, there was nobody standing up and asking for judgment to happen for him. And the mere fact that the leader of the Opposition [Kemi Badenoch] in the other place can use my son’s name in referring to reform – it took 20 years and more for anybody to understand the murder of my son and to have anybody convicted.”
Conservative leader Ms Badenoch had earlier said “Henry’s murder and the police’s botched response must be a seminal moment for Britain on a par with the murder of Stephen Lawrence”.
Further reflecting on the debate, she added many peers had “no idea what race equality means”. She continued: “I think to be in here and you stand in a position of power that you can say that you want to change and go back to what it was before – for me, what we’ve moved on to is a much better equality for all in this country.”
Nowak, 18, died from a fatal stab wound while handcuffed police after his attacker 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa falsely claimed to be a victim and that he had been racially attacked. Digwa was handed life sentence with a minimum 21-year term and Nowak’s death has sparked debate and protest over the role of the police as well as the claim of racism being used when alerting officers.
View 3 ImagesLawrence was brutally murdered in 1993(Image: PA)
Stephen Lawrence was also 18 when he was murdered by a group of white teenagers in southeast London in 1993. Lady Lawrence bemoaned her multi-decade battle for justice and how her son’s name was used to evoke calls for justice.
Nowak’s death sparked protests in Southampton yesterday, the same city where he was killed in December last year. Hundreds of demonstrators protested outside Hampshire police’ station in the city centre before moving toward the Digwa family home.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Donna Jones said Nowak’s family were “disappointed” to see the violent protests. She told the BBC: “They do not support protests, they do not support the kind of unrest that we saw on the streets.
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“They’ve called for calm, and if you recall back to Mark Nowak’s statement on the steps of the court on Monday this week, when his son’s murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment, he actually said quite the opposite – he asked for calm and he asked for reflection.
“What they don’t want is hate and division coming off the back of the tragedy of Henry’s death.”