Baroness Doreen Lawrence has delivered a powerful testimony to the Undercover Policing Inquiry, describing the covert surveillance conducted on her family in the aftermath of her son's murder as 'disrespectful and dehumanising'.
The mother of Stephen Lawrence, the black teenager murdered in a racist attack in 1993, told the hearing she found it 'deeply painful' to discover that police resources were directed at monitoring her family's campaign for justice rather than catching his killers.
A Family Under Surveillance
Lady Lawrence explained that the surveillance occurred during an unimaginably difficult period as she struggled to cope with her son's death, care for her other children, and maintain her livelihood. 'All the while I neglected my own wellbeing. I was simply surviving,' she stated.
The inquiry is scrutinising the actions of the Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which gathered intelligence on the Lawrence family and their supporters throughout the 1990s. This secret monitoring was first exposed by whistleblower Peter Francis, a former undercover officer who revealed the operation in the Guardian.
Lady Lawrence expressed her profound disbelief at allegations that police sought information to smear her family and undermine their campaign, a claim the police deny.
Misplaced Priorities and Institutional Failure
'To see the extent of the resources, time and effort that were directed towards monitoring our family and the campaign – rather than towards finding and prosecuting those responsible for Stephen’s murder – is deeply painful,' she told the inquiry. 'It is hard not to feel that the priorities were completely misplaced.'
She described it as 'deeply troubling' that the SDS had collected private information, such as details of her separation from her husband Neville, which was not public knowledge at the time.
The inquiry heard that reports from undercover officer David Hagan, who infiltrated anti-racist groups for five years, were considered 'invaluable' to Scotland Yard. Bob Lambert, an SDS manager, noted in 1998 that Hagan provided 'unique insight into the behind-the-scenes machinations of the Lawrence campaign'.
Hagan has claimed his reporting on the Lawrence campaign was 'incidental' to his primary role. Lady Lawrence firmly dismissed this justification, stating, 'Regardless of how he frames it, the effect of his actions amounted to surveillance and intrusion into my family and our campaign seeking justice. I believe that his presence at our campaign meetings and events was purposeful. I believe he was there to report on us.'
A Seminal Case in British Race Relations
The failed investigation into Stephen Lawrence's murder in April 1993 has long been recognised as a seminal case exposing institutional racism within the British police.
The Undercover Policing Inquiry, which is examining the conduct of officers who spied on thousands of campaigners between 1968 and 2010, continues its work. For Doreen Lawrence, now a member of the House of Lords, the painful revelations underscore a tragic diversion of effort. 'Instead of pursuing justice, those in power chose to observe us,' she concluded.
