LONDON: A British judge jailed two white men Wednesday for the "evil" murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993, one of the country's most notorious racist crimes which prompted a major police overhaul.
Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were found guilty by a jury Tuesday of being part of a gang of white youths who stabbed the 18-year-old to death in an unprovoked attack at a bus stop in Eltham, southeast London.
Handing down the sentences in a packed courtroom at London's Old Bailey, Judge Colman Treacy said Lawrence's murder was a "terrible and evil crime" committed for "no other reason than racial hatred".
He sentenced Dobson, who was aged 17 at the time of the attack, to at least 15 years and two months in jail, while Norris, who was 16 at the time, was given a minimum of 14 years and three months.
The convictions bring some closure to a long-running case which the judge said had "scarred the conscience of the nation".
The case sparked an overhaul of the police after a damning report found the original investigation was hampered by "institutional racism", and is viewed as a milestone in race relations across Britain.
Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were found guilty by a jury Tuesday of being part of a gang of white youths who stabbed the 18-year-old to death in an unprovoked attack at a bus stop in Eltham, southeast London.
Handing down the sentences in a packed courtroom at London's Old Bailey, Judge Colman Treacy said Lawrence's murder was a "terrible and evil crime" committed for "no other reason than racial hatred".
He sentenced Dobson, who was aged 17 at the time of the attack, to at least 15 years and two months in jail, while Norris, who was 16 at the time, was given a minimum of 14 years and three months.
The convictions bring some closure to a long-running case which the judge said had "scarred the conscience of the nation".
The case sparked an overhaul of the police after a damning report found the original investigation was hampered by "institutional racism", and is viewed as a milestone in race relations across Britain.