History > 2006 > UK > Community relations / Racism (II)

Met faces inquiry

over Lawrence cover-up claims

· Detective alleged to have shielded killers
· New light cast on murder of black student in 1993

Wednesday July 26, 2006
Guardian
Vikram Dodd

The Metropolitan police is to face an investigation into allegations that it covered up testimony that the killers of Stephen Lawrence were shielded by a corrupt detective.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission's action has been triggered by a BBC programme tonight about the unsolved murder of the black student in April 1993 at a south-east London bus stop. Five white youths were named by locals as being responsible for the murder, including David Norris, whose father, Clifford, was a notorious gangster suspected of corrupt links with some police officers. In the programme a former officer, Neil Putnam, alleges that John Davidson, a senior detective in the first inquiry into Stephen's death, had a corrupt relationship with Clifford Norris. He alleges that when he told his bosses that corruption had been a factor behind the botched murder inquiry, it was covered up.

Mr Putnam says his information was kept from Sir William Macpherson's public inquiry into police failings. The Lawrence family had alleged officers corrupted by Clifford Norris had helped shield the prime suspects. Mr Putnam is described as a witness of truth by the Met, whose testimony gained corruption convictions against other Met detectives. Mr Putnam himself was convicted of corruption after confessing to offences.

The IPCC deputy chairman, John Wadham, said: "There are two serious allegations in this film and we will be asking the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to record the misconduct complaints. We would then expect the MPS to refer them back to the IPCC for us to decide how they are investigated."

Doreen Lawrence, Stephen's mother, said: "We are the ones, as the family, who have had to sit back and suffer all these years. I hope that the IPCC will prove that they are independent and will investigate the corruption."

Stephen's father, Neville, described the allegations made in the programme as "very disturbing", but added: "It shows that the issue of police corruption can no longer be ignored. It must now be investigated. We are ordinary people and thought there was corruption but could not prove it and we would not make such a claim unless it could be proved."

Richard Stone, adviser to the Macpherson inquiry, reacted with anger: "It is infuriating to be made aware, seven years after the inquiry ... an officer ... was asking to meet Sir William. [Putnam] was considered a reliable witness ... who convicted almost all those he named."

In a statement Scotland Yard denied covering up crucial information. It said that following his arrest Mr Putnam gave anti-corruption officers information about Mr Davidson being corrupt, but did not provide a link with Mr Norris. It said that during a corruption investigation there had been no evidence of ex-detective sergeant Davidson being involved in corrupt activity within the Lawrence inquiry "or doing anything to thwart the investigation". Mr Davidson, who now runs a bar in Spain, denies any wrongdoing and was never prosecuted for any alleged offence.

Timeline:

1993

April 22 Stephen Lawrence murdered in Eltham, south-east London

May 7-10 Neil and Jamie Acourt, Gary Dobson and David Norris arrested

May 13 Neil Acourt charged with murder

June 23 Luke Knight murder charge

July 29 CPS drops murder charges

August 15 Scotland Yard announces internal review of investigation

1994

April 15 CPS again declines to prosecute because of insufficient evidence

August Police second investigation

1995

April 22 Lawrence family private prosecution. Neil Acourt, Knight and Norris arrested. Jamie already in custody on attempted murder charge (later acquitted)

August 23 Case against Jamie Acourt and Norris dropped

August 29 Dobson charged with murder

September 11 Knight and Neil Acourt sent for trial. Dobson followed in December

1996

April 24 Trial at Old Bailey collapses

1997

February 10 Inquest reopens. Jury later returns unlawful killing verdict

December PCA reports "significant weaknesses and omissions during the first murder inquiry"

1998

March 24 Public inquiry opens

1999

February Scotland Yard launches reinvestigation into the murder

2004

May 5 CPS says five-year police reinvestigation has not produced a strong enough case to prosecute anyone for the murder

· The boys who killed Stephen Lawrence, BBC1, tonight, 9pm

Met faces inquiry over Lawrence cover-up claims, G, 26.7.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1830208,00.html

Police treat Asian man's murder as racist

· Eight arrested after fatal stabbing in estate brawl
· Killing of taxi driver may also have racial undertone

Monday July 24, 2006
Guardian
Riazat Butt

Detectives investigating the fatal stabbing of an Asian man during a mass brawl said yesterday that they were treating the investigation as a racist murder.

Shezan Umarji, 20, died after a fight broke out on a Preston estate in the early hours of Saturday morning. More than 50 people were involved, and witnesses have said that some were armed with baseball bats and knives.

Eight men were last night in custody. Two of them were arrested on suspicion of murder, and the others on suspicion of violent disorder.

It was not the only killing of the weekend with apparent racial undertones. In a separate incident, a taxi driver died on Saturday night after being attacked by a group in Huddersfield. Five teenagers were being questioned last night in connection with the attack on Mohammed Pervaiz, who was turning up for a fare when he was killed. Police said it was believed that "racist language" was used towards the victim at the time.

Detectives in Preston said the same thing about the Umarji killing.

"The extent of the abuse, who said it, and to whom, is by no means clear," said Detective Superintendent Graham Gardner, leading the investigation into Umarji's murder. "Nor is it clear at what point it was said. But witnesses have told us about the abuse, and it is incumbent on me to declare this a racial investigation. I'm not saying, however, he was killed because of the colour of his skin."

Det Supt Gardner added: "There were more than 50 people in that fight, but I've not had 50 people come forward. That might be because they don't trust the police or they're scared; but there will be people who have seen things or heard things, and I urge them to help us."

On Fishwick Parade, the litter-strewn crime scene, the Umarji family had tied a bunch of purple chrysanthemums to a tree, marking the spot where the former grammar school pupil died.

Although few could agree on the sequence or cause of events, it was accepted that Mr Umarji was well-liked, well-respected, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At a press briefing Shohel Umarji, his 26-year-old cousin, said: "Shezan was a good lad.

"He was respected himself and he respected other people, young and old. The family are not coping well at all. It's a sudden death, and they are going through a very hard time."

Mr Umarji worked for a Halifax call centre, attended the local mosque five times a day, and enjoyed playing football.

One neighbour said: "Last week Shezan's sister got married, it was a happy occasion for the whole family. This week, the family will have to go to a funeral."

The woman, who did not wish to be named, added: "I've lived here all my life. I have many friends here; but after Friday night, it's time to go. I'm taking my daughters, it's not safe."

There were mixed feelings, too, about the increased police presence on the estate. Some said they were reassured by the marked vans and mounted officers, while others were angry.

One young man in his 20s, who gave his name as Khalid, said: "It wasn't a racist area - but it will be now. You wait.

"The police being here will make things worse. They'll increase tension between the two communities until it kicks off, and then they'll come down on us real hard.

"I'm a brother to all the Pakistanis on this estate. They [the police] don't care about us, that's why they took so long to get here. Shezan could have been saved if the police and the ambulance had come quicker." Asked about the delay, Det Supt Gardner said: "I can't refute the allegations that there was a delay in the police response, because I don't know.

"We're at the very early stages of the investigation; it is something we will be looking into."

He said that the additional police presence on the estate was necessary and precautionary.

He said: "We have to be realistic. This was the murder of a young Asian man in a mixed race area, and the potential for reprisals is something we have got to be alive to - irrespective of the original motivation behind Shezan's death.

"We have to be alive to factions who know nothing about this incident trying to stir up trouble. It would be remiss of us not to cater for that. Certainly the Umarji family are reassured that we are there."

Backstory

In 2005 there were 333 racist incidents in Preston, 204 of which were racially aggravated crimes. Lancashire police attributed these figures to a backlash following the 7/7 terror attacks. However the rise in the number of racist incidents across Lancashire was higher than the national average. Home Office figures showed that in 2004-2005 there were 2,013 complaints compared with 1,923 the previous year, an increase of 9%. Nationally, for the same period, racist incidents recorded by the police went up from 54,286 to 57,902, a rise of 7%.

    Police treat Asian man's murder as racist, G, 24.7.2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1827345,00.html

Racist killing report names jail officials

Former prisons inspector denounces promotions

Sunday June 25, 2006
The Observer
Ned Temko, chief political correspondent

The inquiry into the murder of Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek by a racist cell-mate will this week name at least two officials who have since been promoted and highlight a 'lack of accountability' over the killing, The Observer can reveal. Sources who have seen the report by Mr Justice Keith said it goes into detail about individual errors or oversights and criticises management failures.

A major theme of the final report from the two-year inquiry, to be published on Thursday, is understood to be that a widespread focus on 'institutionalised racism' has resulted in a failure to recognise that actions by individuals at all levels contributed to Mubarek's death.

The former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham, yesterday denounced the way the incident was handled. He said that, instead of resisting an independent inquiry until ordered to hold one by the House of Lords, the government should have 'suspended a number of the relevant staff at once', including the people who had placed Mubarek in the same cell as a known racist. The officers responsible at Feltham young offenders' institution, west London, where the murder took place, should also have been suspended.

Ramsbotham said the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, should have empowered him to conduct an immediate, no-holds-barred inquiry.

Having earlier issued stinging criticisms of Feltham, where Mubarek was murdered hours before he was to have been freed in 2000, Ramsbotham said: 'It was a tragedy waiting to happen.' He added: 'I find it totally extraordinary that no one has been made accountable.'

Two of the people said to be named in the report - John Byrd, a prison governor who was also part-time race-relations liaison officer, and Feltham governor Niall Clifford - were promoted after the murder. In his evidence, Byrd said the need to juggle his race-liaison responsibilities with other duties had severely limited the attention he could give to race issues. During questioning, it was suggested that, even as full-time race officer, he may have been reluctant to accept the extent of racism at Feltham.

In a sharp exchange, Mr Justice Keith challenged his focus during his part-time race role on compiling 'ethnic monitoring' statistics. 'Some people may say that [such a] number-crunching exercise, sitting behind a desk, is a substitute for putting the wet cloth around your head and thinking seriously, strategically about what needs to be done.

Byrd rejected the idea that he had taken refuge in report-writing, but accepted that this had been his main focus, adding: 'At that time I do not think the amount of time I had allowed me to have carried out all that in-depth work.'

The judge went on to say that even where ethnic-monitoring had thrown up 'areas of [racial] imbalance' in jail policies, 'I do not get a sense of anything being done in a consistent way.' He also questioned why 1997 race relations recommendations by the prison service appeared not to have been put in place until a year after Mubarek's murder.

Clifford took over as Feltham's governor less than a year before the murder, with a brief to lead a three-year overhaul following Ramsbotham's call for changes. He left to take an area manager's post shortly afterward. During his appearance at the inquiry, it was suggested that by leaving, he had damaged prospects for reform at a 'dramatically failing institution', a suggestion he disputed.

Ramsbotham said yesterday of Clifford's move: 'You don't promote people after something like that.'

    Racist killing report names jail officials, O, 25.6.2006, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1805440,00.html

BBC tackles romance across the race divide

Young mixed-race couples struggle to overcome generations of prejudice

Sunday June 11, 2006
The Observer
David Smith

Tony is black. Rena, his fiancee, is Asian. When Tony met Rena's parents for the first time, the dinner conversation was unusually fraught. 'I thought it would be appropriate for me to confront him with my concerns,' recalls Rena's father, Devinda. 'I made him aware how racist an Indian mind is. Probably for Tony it must have been [intimidating]. He obviously wasn't very happy about it and he must have found it offensive.'

Interracial marriage, seen as shocking in the 1950s, has gained widespread acceptance in much of Britain. But typically one half of the couple is white. Tomorrow a controversial documentary will assert that when a relationship consists of Asian and black partners, they often face hostility and ostracism from their families and their respective communities.

The race riots between Asian and black Britons in the Birmingham suburb of Lozells last year were evidence of the resentment between Britain's two biggest ethnic minorities, according to Tanya Datta, who wrote and produced the programme for Radio 4. Love across this divide is rare, with a handful of exceptions in the public eye, including the actors Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti, as well as Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, and his Indian wife Asha.

'There are no official statistics about these kinds of relationships,' said Datta, a journalist of Indian descent, who hopes the documentary will generate a debate about race relations. 'In fact, when I started my research, many black and Asian colleagues told me outright that these types of couples simply did not exist. Some went further and claimed they could not exist. But they were wrong.'

Datta spent six months finding numerous Asian-black couples with diverse experiences, not all of them negative. But few were willing to be interviewed, and even fewer under their real names. Datta concluded that such relationships are, in the words of her programme's title, The Last Taboo. She said: 'One Asian woman told me the marital advice she had received from her father when younger: "The first choice for marriage is someone in your own community ... and then after that, white is the next best thing ... and after white, any other race in the world but black."'

Tony, 30, a Londoner of Ghanaian origin, and 27-year-old Rena, of Indian descent, kept their relationship secret for months. Rena's father, Devinda, who lives in Coventry and runs a voluntary organisation opposing caste discrimination, had laid down strict guidelines for who his daughter should marry. He said: 'Unfortunately I know a lot of black people who are from very fragmented families where the father is missing. I don't want my daughter to be left alone with two or three children who are of mixed race and father disappears and goes somewhere.'

Rena, aware she had 'broken all the taboos in one go', warned her boyfriend what to expect. 'I said, "Oh, by the way, this is what my mum and dad think about black people, and it's not good." Tony summed it up and said, "Oh, so your dad thinks that black men are bed-hopping baby breeders then," and then he said, "I'll try my best to disappoint your father," as in, I'll prove him wrong.'

After that tense dinner at Rena's family home, in which Tony was grilled about Ghanaian culture to the extent that he 'felt like the ambassador of Ghana', her parents were won over. They are now friends with Tony's family and looking forward to the wedding.

Another interracial couple, Leon and Sheela, live in a predominantly Asian part of Birmingham where they are subjected to stares and rude comments. Sheela has been loudly questioned by Asian shopkeepers as to why she is with a black man.

Datta says she was 12 when her father told her that Muslims and black men were out-of-bounds as husband material. 'Yet when I became a teenager there was a moment when it looked like these racial divisions had finally been overcome, on the political front at least. People of colour seemed to coalesce into one to fight the forces of racism. In those days, I used to describe myself as black. Now, I wonder, did the faultlines ever go away? People should start talking about this issue and stop being afraid of it. It's been hidden because it's easy to hide and because I don't think society is interested in the complexities unless it's after a big disaster such as the Lozells riots.'

· The Last Taboo is on Radio 4 tomorrow at 11am.

    BBC tackles romance across the race divide, O, 11.6.2006, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1794999,00.html

Inquiry reveals jail racism is rife

· Ministers and warders condemned after murder of Asian teen
· Fear over treatment of Muslim prisoners

Sunday June 11, 2006
The Observer
Ned Temko, chief political correspondent

The inquiry into the murder of the Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek by a racist cellmate will paint a damning picture of institutional racism and of individual errors from junior prison officer to ministerial level, The Observer can reveal.

The three-volume report, delivered by the inquiry chair Mr Justice Keith to the Home Secretary John Reid last Monday, will also voice concern over religious insensitivity to Muslim prisoners, as well as targeting failings in the care of prisoners with mental health problems. The Observer understands that individuals will be named for errors of judgment.

In addition to strong criticism of the way Mubarek was treated at Feltham young offenders prison in west London, where he was murdered just hours before he was due to be released in March 2000, the report will include wide-ranging proposals for the prison system as a whole.

It will suggest that while some improvements have been made since Mubarek's killing, major changes are still needed in the way prisons deal with vulnerable prisoners, particularly black and Asian inmates, if further such deaths are to be avoided.

The report will intensify pressure on Reid and the prison service as he moves to sort out the controversy concerning foreign prisoners in a department he has publicly branded not 'fit for purpose'. By criticising not just institutional problems but individual errors, it could also lead to action against individuals within the prison service or government personnel.

The report is scheduled to be published at the end of the month, and a spokesman said yesterday that Keith and Reid had agreed that no comment would be made until then.

But sources who have seen the report after it was handed to the Home Office said that it presented a picture of mistakes at all levels of authority, compounded by a lack of adequate communication and a tendency by individuals to pass on responsibility to others.

The two-year inquiry heard extensive evidence of fundamental failings in the prison service, and at Feltham, in dealing with black and Asian prisoners.

Central to Keith's report, the sources say, was a view that it was necessary to go beyond criticism of 'institutional' failings and recognise that avoiding such tragedies required a sense of accountability at all levels by the individuals involved.

In questioning 62 witnesses, and examining 143 written witness statements and 15,000 pages of documentary evidence, the inquiry heard that the prison service had failed in its basic 'duty of care' to Mubarek.

The inquiry heard evidence of a persistent culture of racism at Feltham, with little or no attention paid to race relations issues, and of a similar pattern of racial prejudice throughout the prison system.

It also heard of 'gladiator games' in which some officers were accused of putting white and black inmates in a shared cell and placing bets on how long it would take for violence to break out.

The report, drawing on specific inquiry evidence, is understood to conclude that responsibility for the errors leading to Mubarek's death must rest with individuals involved at every level.

It is understood that some of the individuals named in the report remain in positions of at least equal seniority to those they had at the time of the murder.

The government resisted the demand by Mubarek's family for a full public inquiry, and it was set up only after the Lords ruled that human rights law justified their push for such an investigation.

In a statement issued after the report was handed to Reid, a spokesman for the inquiry said: 'Mr Justice Keith has looked at the evidence surrounding Zahid's death exhaustively. He has considered, in depth, the views expressed by a wide range of experts ... and borne in mind what he learned through the inquiry's own focus groups and his visits to several prisons. He hopes that throughout the process he has been comprehensive, fair and has left no stone unturned.'

Inquiry reveals jail racism is rife,
O, 11.6.2006,
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1794945,00.html