London - Police corruption and racism among officers contributed to mistakes being made during the investigation of the murder of the London teenager Stephen Lawrence, the public inquiry into his death was told, writes Rachel Donnelly.
In his final submission to the inquiry, Mr Michael Mansfield QC, for the Lawrence family, accused senior police officers of making deliberate mistakes in order to prevent successful convictions in the case. Racism had also hampered the investigation into Stephen Lawrence's death after he was stabbed at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993, he said. However, Mr Jeremy Gompertz QC, for the Metropolitan Police, said that while the force accepted it had conducted a "mediocre investigation" at times, there was no evidence of racism or corruption.