Vigil for Stephen Lawrence on eve of inquiry

MORE THAN a hundred people took part yesterday in a candlelit vigil for murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, on the eve of the start of a High Court inquiry into his death. The crowd at Eltham, south-east London, where the black 18-year-old was stabbed to death in April 1993, sang hymns and listened to readings and pleas for people to come forward with evidence on the racially motivated killing. Cheryl Slowley, Stephen's aunt, described the vigil as "very hopeful" and said she was glad to see so many people turn up to support the family.

The case has been through an inquest, independent police reviews into the investigation, a private prosecution by Stephen's family and an Old Bailey trial, which collapsed in April 1996. The inquiry was announced by the Home Secretary Jack Straw last July. Last Friday, Scotland Yard announced that a senior police officer in the case had been recommended for disciplinary action for neglect of duty.