Stephen Lawrence murder suspects to stand trial

[muriel_volestrangler]

The men charged are David Norris, who has never before been charged over the stabbing, and Gary Dobson, who stood trial previously and was found not guilty.

Dobson was acquitted of killing Lawrence, 18, after a private murder prosecution brought in 1996 by the parents of the talented youngster who dreamed of being an architect.

A new law established in 2003 abolished the longstanding ban on people being retried for the same crime after being found not guilty, if "compelling" new evidence came to light.

The appeal court agreed on Wednesday that new evidence was compelling enough to allow Dobson's acquittal to be quashed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/18/stephen-lawrence-suspects-stand-trial

Wow. I thought they'd never be able to charge people for this again. It'll be interesting to see if any evidence of a cover-up among the police comes up in the trial.

[oldironside]

1. I was a bit uncomfortable about the end of double jeapoardy...

... but if it means justice in this case it must be a positive. And if Inspector Knacker didn't do anything wrong, he's got nothing to worry about. I'm sure any rozzer will be happy to cooperate fully with the investigation.