Overview

• The hearing is being livestreamed from prison to the Royal Courts of Justice, with only the back of David Norris’s head shown on camera.
• Victim impact statements from Neville, Baroness Doreen, and Stuart Lawrence urge the panel to refuse release, with Doreen calling Norris an obvious danger and citing the 1994 covert Footscray tapes.
• Norris now accepts he was at the scene and says he punched Stephen Lawrence but did not stab him, and he told the panel he feels genuine remorse and offered an apology.
• The Justice Secretary is opposing release as the panel assesses risk and considers outcomes ranging from continued custody to transfer to open conditions, with a decision to follow after the hearing concludes.
• Evidence before the panel includes reports that Norris used a racial slur in 2022 and abused a nurse, and his prison offender manager does not recommend release, while a separate College of Policing review of the investigation stage remains ongoing.