Stephen Lawrence murder: 20th anniversary to be marked

Stephen Lawrence originally by: BBC News  
published: 4 January 2013

The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has begun a campaign to mark the 20th anniversary of his death. Doreen Lawrence said she wants to ensure no other family has to go through what she endured.

The campaign will include talking to new police commissioners and a memorial service on 22 April – the date Stephen was killed in Eltham in 1993

The announcement comes exactly a year after Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of his murder.

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Lawyer likens Marikana shooting to apartheid massacre

Shooting Deathsource: The Guardian
published: 6 January 2013

When South Africa’s apartheid police massacred 69 people in Sharpeville in 1960, the revulsion spread as far as northern England. James Nichol, then 15, took part in his first street protest.

“I remember there were about 20 of us and I think we marched in single file with a placard each around Newcastle because there wasn’t really enough for a demonstration,” he said.

More than 50 years later, Nichol, a criminal lawyer, has travelled to South Africa to stand up for the victims of another state-sponsored massacre of protesters.

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Hillsborough inquest verdicts quashed by High Court

The Royal Courts of Justiceoriginally by: BBC News  
published: 19 December 2012

The High Court has quashed the original inquest verdicts returned on 96 Liverpool football fans who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. The Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge ordered fresh inquests following an application by the Attorney General.

Trevor Hicks of the Hillsborough Family Support Group said it was “a huge step for the families”.

The home secretary has also announced a new police inquiry into the disaster. Theresa May said the new inquiry would re-examine what happened in April 1989.

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