Stephen Lawrence killer not safe to be released from prison, court hears

Stephen Lawrence's killer David Norris is not safe to be released from prison, a psychologist has told a parole hearing.

Norris, 49, is bidding for release from his life sentence after being jailed in 2012 for Stephen's murder.

The prison psychologist, giving evidence anonymously on Wednesday, said Norris should be moved to a lower security, closed prison where his behaviour could be tested.

Norris publicly admitted for the first time to being a part of the racist attack on Stephen in 1993 during the first day of the hearing on Tuesday.

It marked the first time since the teenager was stabbed by a gang while waiting at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, that any of his killers admitted their involvement.

Norris and one other man, Gary Dobson, are the only people to have been found guilty of the murder, with four other suspects never convicted.

For decades Norris publicly denied being part of the attack, claiming he was innocent during his trial, but the hearing was told on Tuesday that he had admitted his involvement since being in prison.

Norris has refused to name Stephen's other killers, saying that doing so would pose a risk to him and his family.

Of his own involvement, he described punching Stephen but denied stabbing him.

The parole board panel will have to decide whether Norris is safe to be released from prison on licence, recommend a move to an open prison or conclude that he should remain in a closed prison.

The psychologist had spent nine hours interviewing Norris and told the hearing he was an "unreliable narrator of his own life".

He said some details of Norris' confession had been inconsistent, including different accounts of the number of punches thrown and whether or not he had kicked Stephen.

The psychologist was asked by the panel if Norris was an unreliable narrator because of poor memory or due to "deliberate rewriting of history".

He replied: "I don't know the answer to that, but I would say probably a combination of these."

"He's careful about what he wants to admit to."

The psychologist said his recommendation was that Norris did not reach the threshold for release from prison or a move to an open prison.

Instead, he recommended that Norris be moved to a lower security, closed prison where he could be tested.

The hearing was told on Tuesday that Norris used racially abusive language in prison, according to intelligence reports from different facilities.

It heard that Norris had been involved in clashes with Muslim prisoners, including claims that he had thrown excrement and used derogatory terms, which he denied.

The psychologist said on Wednesday: "I find it unlikely that, across prisons, staff are making things up."

He said Norris had a lack of racial awareness and was more likely to use racist language during times of mental ill health or frustration.

Separately, he said he believed Norris had expressed genuine remorse for the killing - adding that some of it had been expressed "nowhere near a parole hearing".

He said people could still feel remorse but "lapse" in certain situations.

The hearing is taking place in an unnamed prison with a video stream to the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the press, public and Stephen's family, including his mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

Norris appeared with his back to the screen and occasionally used a hearing loop.

The court heard that he had been in his current prison for around two years and worked in the servery, where food is prepared and distributed.

A prison key worker said he had come to the unit wanting to work on "reactions and perceptions of rudeness towards him".

The hearing is set to continue, with the parole board deciding whether to release Norris later this month.