Stephen Lawrence's body to be returned to the UK

Stephen Lawrence's body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica 31 years after his racist murder, his mother Doreen Lawrence said.

The Lawrence family laid the 18-year-old to rest overseas because they felt "he would not be at peace in this country".

Baroness Lawrence also said images of her son's grave had appeared on social media after his body was exhumed and prior to the return, which had caused the family "distress".

Mr Lawrence, who was black British and from Plumstead, south-east London, was killed in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Eltham in April 1993.

Only two of his five or six killers have been brought to justice.

The original police investigation into the 18-year-old’s death was marred by institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police, incompetence and alleged corruption.

In a statement issued through her lawyer, Baroness Lawrence said: “My family and I have been made aware of the recent images of my son’s grave that have been circulated on social media.

“After 31 years, we have decided as a family that we would like to bring Stephen home to be closer to us.”

Baroness Lawrence said the funeral home in Jamaica had exhumed her son's body and had "a lack of regard for our feelings and privacy, as evidenced by the decision to leave Stephen’s grave open to the public, rather than closed off".

“We are disheartened by the individual who chose to take images and post them on social media without consideration for the potential impact on our family.”

Years after the original police investigation into Mr Lawrence’s death, it emerged that undercover police officers had spied on campaigners supporting the Lawrence family in their fight for justice.

Last year, the BBC revealed further failures linked to a sixth suspect in the case, Matthew White.

In June, Baroness Lawrence said she was “bewildered, disappointed and angry” at an upheld decision not to charge four officers involved in the original bungled investigation into her son’s murder.

Baroness Lawrence said the decision marked “a new low” in how her family had been treated by the criminal justice system, and meant that no police officer would ever take responsibility for the failures in the case.

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