The father of Stephen Lawrence has said he is appalled at the decision to return his son’s body to the UK 31 years after his murder.
It comes after Baroness Lawrence, the 18-year-old’s mother, said his family had decided to “bring Stephen home to be closer to us” after originally burying him on the Caribbean island because they felt “he would not be at peace in this country”.
However, Dr Neville Lawrence said he was not informed of the decision to exhume his son’s body, and only found out after he was shown a video of the damage done to his son’s grave by his body being moved.
He said his son had been “at peace” in Jamaica , and that he would not take his son back to the place he was murdered.
“I would not desecrate and leave my son’s grave in the terrible way it was left after his body was exhumed,” he said.
“Stephen was at peace in Jamaica and he has now been disturbed and taken away from what I believed would be his final resting place. I am appalled that my son’s grave has been vandalised in this way and left in such a terrible mess.
“I would not take my son back to the place where he was murdered.”
However, he said he was confident that his son’s legacy would be sustained.
“I am confident, regardless of the decisions made without my knowledge and consent, that Stephen’s legacy will be sustained,” he said.
“I also reaffirm my commitment to keep fighting until I secure justice for my son.”
Mr Lawrence was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham , south-east London , in April 1993 as he went to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks, and 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 Met, incompetence and alleged corruption.
Years after the original police investigation, it emerged that undercover police officers had spied on campaigners supporting the Lawrence family in their fight for justice.
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