Two face court over Lawrence murder

Prosecutor Mark Ellison QC outlined to a jury how modern forensic techniques were used to detect the traces more than a decade after the 18-year-old’s murder.

Mr Lawrence was stabbed by a gang of white youths in Eltham, south east London in April 1993.

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, both of south London, deny the murder and were in court yesterday as the case against them was opened.

A cold case review was started in 2007 during which forensic experts re-examined clothing seized in the original investigation.

Mr Ellison said new evidence was found that “consists of . . . textile fibres, blood and hair linked to Stephen Lawrence on clothing seized from the defendants as part of the original investigation in 1993”.

The court was told that a tiny bloodstain found on Dobson’s grey jacket was a billion-to-one match to Mr Lawrence’s DNA.

Mr Ellison said some of the blood on the collar had soaked into the fibres, suggesting it had been wet and had come from the attack.

There were also minute flecks of blood on the jacket itself which had been found by microscopic examination. These did not contain a full DNA profile.

In total there were 16 fibres which could have come from three separate items of clothing worn by Mr Lawrence, found either on the jacket or its bag.

Two hairs were found in an evidence bag used to store Norris’s jeans, one of which matched Mr Lawrence’s DNA to a certainty of one in 1,000.

Defending Dobson, Timothy Roberts QC, told the jury that the clothing had been contaminated while in police custody and the evidence amounted to only “a teaspoon”.

Stephen Batten QC, for Norris, agreed with Mr Roberts’ claims about possible contamination.

The case continues.