Stephen Lawrence case: IPCC investigating former Met chief

The police watchdog is investigating former Scotland Yard commissioner Lord John Stevens about information he gave to the Macpherson Inquiry into the force's handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder case.

The landmark inquiry, held in 1998, found the Metropolitan Police to be "institutionally racist". Sixteen years later, in March 2014, another review by barrister Mark Ellison concluded the force had failed to pass on certain information to the inquiry at the time.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has confirmed that it is investigating the evidence given to the Macpherson Inquiry by Lord Stevens, who was deputy commissioner of the force from 1998 to 2000.

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The Guardian reported the complaint came from Lawrence's father Neville and relates to the force's alleged failure to pass on documents related to long-standing claims made by the victim's parents that "corruption played a part in police bungling of the case".

In a statement, the Met confirmed it had received a public complaint in relation to Lord Stevens and had referred the matter to the IPCC last November.

"The complaint has been made in relation to Lord Stevens' role as the then-deputy commissioner and disclosure to the Macpherson Inquiry.

"This issue was raised in the Stephen Lawrence Independent Review by Mark Ellison QC, published on 6 March [2014], where he concluded there were defects in the level of information that the MPS revealed to the inquiry."

Lord Stevens has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Stephen Lawrence was 18 years old when he was stabbed in an unprovoked, racially motivated attack by a white gang in April 1993. It was not until 2012 that two of his killers, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were brought to justice and given life sentences.

Sir William Macpherson, a retired high court judge, published his extensive report in 1999, analysing the institutional and individual behaviour of the police during the murder investigation.