Stephen Lawrence Murderer David Norris Makes Fresh Appeal Against Conviction

Stephen Lawrence Murderer Makes Fresh Appeal Against Conviction

One of the two men jailed for the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence will have a fresh bid to appeal against his conviction heard by judges next month.

David Norris will make a renewed application on 10 May seeking permission to challenge his conviction at a hearing before judges at the Court of Appeal in London.

Stephen Lawrence was murdered 20 years ago

Gary Dobson, the second man jailed for the murder, recently dropped his appeal.

Dobson, who was given a life sentence at the Old Bailey in January last year, abandoned his renewed application to appeal against his conviction for the murder.

Last summer, applications for permission to appeal by both men were rejected by a single judge who considered the papers from the case.

But Dobson and Norris, who are both in their thirties, still had the right to renew their applications before a panel of judges sitting at the Court of Appeal.

News of Dobson's appeal comes just days after a memorial service was held to mark 20 years since Stephen's murder. The service at St Martins-in-the-Field church in London was attended by leading politicians, including David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Theresa May.

The trial judge, Mr Justice Treacy, described the murder as a "terrible and evil crime".

He urged police not to "close the file" on catching the rest of the killers after the Old Bailey heard that a gang of five or six white youths set upon A-level student Stephen in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

He said the murder was committed "for no other reason than racial hatred".

Mr Justice Treacy told the pair: "A totally innocent 18-year-old youth on the threshold of a promising life was brutally cut down in the street in front of eyewitnesses by a racist, thuggish gang."

The breakthrough in the investigation came when a cold case team of forensic scientists was called in.

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