White gang 'forced black teen to ground' in fatal attack

Two men are on trial in Britain for the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence whose stabbing 18 years ago led to a major inquiry that concluded the police were "institutionally racist".

The 18-year-old student was knifed to death at a bus stop in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths in Eltham, southeast London, in April 1993. Nobody has been convicted for his murder.

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, both white men from south London, have both denied murdering the teenager.

Yesterday, the Old Bailey heard that Lawrence chatted with his friend moments before he was stabbed in the street.

Hospital worker Royston Westbrook said he saw a group of white men "collide" with Lawrence and Duwayne Brooks and attack them.

Westbrook told the court: "The two black boys, Stephen and Duwayne, were standing right by the bus stop . just generally chit-chatting."

The teenagers were discussing whether they should wait for a bus or walk back up to a roundabout to try to get another. In the end they made the fateful decision to walk.

"They just collided - that's what it looked like," said Westbrook. "They were just heading towards each other and that was it.

"They grabbed Duwayne Brooks's wrist but he . pulled away. Duwayne ran towards the bus stop where we were standing and turned round and shouted something like, 'Leg it, Steve'."

Brooks managed to run away but Lawrence was forced to the ground.

Westbrook told the jury: "I saw them surround Stephen and he went down basically through sheer weight of numbers in the middle of them . it looked at the time that someone went to punch him."

An inquiry by a senior judge into the way that the case was conducted by London's Metropolitan Police led to significant changes in the way murders involving black victims are investigated.

The report by William Macpherson, published in 1999, gave a damning assessment of the "institutional racism" within the Metropolitan police and policing in general.