Stephen Lawrence’s body exhumed for UK return

LONDON:

Stephen Lawrence’s body, which was buried in Jamaica for 31 years, is being returned to the United Kingdom after his mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, announced that the family wanted to “bring Stephen home to be closer to us”.

This revelation became public after images of Stephen’s grave in Clarendon, Jamaica, were circulated on social media as being left open after the body was exhumed by a local funeral home.

A statement issued by Baroness Lawrence last week said: “My family and I have been made aware of the recent images of my son’s grave that have been circulated on social media. Following Stephen’s passing, we made the decision to have him laid to rest in Jamaica as we felt he would not be at peace in this country. After 31 years, we have decided as a family that we would like to bring Stephen home to be closer to us.

“The images that are circulating were taken after the funeral home exhumed Stephen’s body.

“However, we would like to express our distress at the funeral home’s lack of regard for our feelings and privacy as evidenced by the decision to leave Stephen’s grave open to the public rather than closed off.”

Baroness Lawrence added: “We are disheartened by the individual who chose to take images and post them on social media without consideration for the potential impact on our family.

“We had hoped to have carried out this sensitive task privately, but due to unforeseen circumstances, this was not possible.

“We apologise for any distress caused by those who saw the images and kindly request that out of respect for us and our privacy, these are removed from all media platforms.”

In April 1993, Stephen, then an 18-year-old A-Level student with aspirations to become an architect, was murdered at a bus stop in Eltham, south east London, by a group of five white youths simply because he was black. Only two of his killers – Gary Dobson and Davis Norris – have ever been brought to justice.

FATHER NOT INFORMED

The family made the decision to bury Stephen’s body in Jamaica as they did not want persons to vandalise his grave much like the spot where Stephen died in Eltham is marked with a black granite plaque, and over the years, it has been vandalised with paint and other graffiti.

Stephen’s father, Dr Neville Lawrence, now spends most of his time in Jamaica because he does not “feel good about living in the UK after what happened to Stephen”.

However, he has said that he was not informed of the decision to exhume his son’s body in Jamaica and return it to the UK and only found out after he was shown a video of the damage done to the grave. He is “appalled” at the condition in which it was left.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper last week, Neville Lawrence said: “I would not desecrate and leave my son’s grave in the terrible way it was left after his body was exhumed. Stephen was at peace in Jamaica, and he has now been disturbed and taken away from what I believed would be his final resting place. I am appalled that my son’s grave has been vandalised in this way and left in such a terrible mess. I would not take my son back to the place where he was murdered.”

However, Dr Lawrence said he was confident that his son’s legacy would be sustained, adding, “This reaffirms my commitment to keep fighting until I secure justice for my son.”