Stephen Lawrence’s Body to Be Returned to the UK After 31 Years

Stephen Lawrence‘s remains will soon make their way back to the UK, over three decades after his tragic murder due to racism. This decision was announced by his mother, Doreen Lawrence, who shared that the family has been deeply hurt by recent images of her son’s grave that surfaced online after his body was exhumed in Jamaica.

In her statement, Doreen expressed the family’s wish to have Stephen brought back home so that he could be closer to them. The Lawrence family had initially chosen to bury Stephen overseas, believing he wouldn’t find peace in the UK due to the circumstances surrounding his death.

Stephen, who was just 18, was murdered in April 1993 while trying to catch a bus in Eltham. His attackers acted out of racial hatred, and only two out of what is believed to be five or six individuals involved have faced justice for their actions.

The police investigation into Stephen’s murder faced immense criticism, with accusations of institutional racism and mismanagement impacting the case’s progress over the years. Even after the original investigation, it was revealed that undercover officers had been spying on supporters of the Lawrence family, further complicating their search for justice.

Baroness Lawrence, as she’s now known, criticized the funeral home for showing a lack of respect for the family’s privacy by keeping Stephen’s grave open to the public during the exhumation. The family found it heartbreaking that images of the grave were taken and shared online without any thought to their feelings.

While Doreen and her family had hoped to manage this sensitive situation quietly, the events took an unexpected turn. They are now urging those who have seen the images to respect their privacy and kindly ask for the posts to be removed from social media.