Police visits to Stephen Lawrence home risked later contamination, jury told

Detective Constable Linda Holden and Detective Sergeant John Bevan made a series of visits to the bereaved family in Woolwich, south-east London, in the days following the 18-year-old student’s death in April 1993, before the searches were carried out, a trial at the Old Bailey heard.

Prosecutors claim microscopic fibres found on clothes belonging to Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, both of south London, prove they took part in the gang attack that killed the student.

But defence counsel for the pair claim fibres, blood and hair linked to Stephen were transferred on to the clothes of defendants by contamination.

Ms Holden last visited the Lawrences on April 29 before being told to search Dobson’s house in Phineas Pett Road, Eltham, on May 7.

She insisted she was “positive” she had not worn the same clothes to the victim’s and suspect’s houses.

Timothy Roberts QC, for Dobson, asked: “Are you absolutely sure and can you swear on oath that you didn’t wear the same shirt?”

She replied: “Positive.”

The jury was told that after Dobson’s clothes had been sealed into bags at Bromley police station they were taken back to Eltham where they were stored in the same disused cell where Stephen’s clothes were previously kept.

At one point the student’s jacket was taken out of its packaging and photographed on a groundsheet on the floor of the charge room, the jury heard. Clothes seized from Norris were sealed in paper bags at his home before being driven back to Eltham.

Jurors were told Mr Bevan last visited the Lawrences on May 4, before he took part in a search of Norris’s parents’ house in Chislehurst, south-east London, on May 7.

The trial continues.