By KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER and GEORGE ODLING, CRIME CORRESPONDENT
One of Stephen Lawrence's murderers has admitted responsibility for the first time - but refused to name the other killers 'to protect his family.'
David Norris, 49, admitted punching Stephen 'two or three times' after the teenager dropped to his knees in the street during the racist attack.
He told his parole hearing he was 'disgusted' with himself for his part in the murder - but his own offender manager told the panel it was possible he was only now expressing remorse to secure his freedom.
Norris said he changed his stance in 2018 after watching an advert for a documentary about the 1993 murder in which Stephen's father Neville said he could forgive his killers.
He told the hearing, which is being held in public following a successful application from the Mail, that he confessed to a Catholic priest the following day.
Norris is pleading for his freedom after being jailed with a minimum term of 14 years and three months in January 2012 for his role in the murder.
Stephen's father Neville, 83, said before the hearing that Norris should name the other racist gang members - who killed his son as he ran for a bus home - before being considered for parole.
But Norris told the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice today that he and his family would be 'at risk' if he divulged details about the others involved.
He said: 'I am not here to discuss other people, I am here to take responsibility for my part in what happened, my actions.'
The killer added that in an 'ideal world' he would give Mr Lawrence's family 'every detail', but said: 'That puts me and my family at risk.'
Norris who was on camera, with only the back of his head visible, revealed details of the night Stephen was killed as he told how he and his gang 'were going about our business and they were going about theirs'.
He continued: 'I was just trying to go back home. I had been on a date. I just wanted to get back to my mum. She was struggling so I wanted to get back to support her.
'She didn’t know I had left the house because I sneaked out. I saw a group of people I knew...so I suppose the intention was maybe to call a taxi at one of their houses but I just wanted to be back home.
‘I was trying to catch up to them and was just a little bit behind. I can’t answer for what the others were thinking but I didn’t have violence in the front of my mind but I won’t deny that I wasn’t ready for violence at the drop of a hat.’
Norris went on to say there was ‘no altercation’ before adding how Stephen’s friend and one of his group ran off.
He then shared details about how Stephen was savagely killed.
Norris said: ‘The victim just stood there and he was attacked. I tried to punch him two or three times and he tried to run off. I was the last to punch him. He was sort of crouched. His knees were bent.
‘I suppose it was a gang mentality. Loyalty towards the group – if he started on one he started on all. It all happened so quick; it was ten seconds or less.
‘I didn’t have time to think. It was an impulsive reaction. I’m not sure what was said, but something must have happened and I just wanted to get involved.
‘It didn’t take much for me to get involved in a fight.’
Permission was given for Norris’s parole hearing to take place in public after an application by the media was backed by Stephen’s parents, with Mr Lawrence saying, ‘the more people that can see the better’.
In a document outlining the decision, it was revealed Norris now accepts he was present at the scene of the murder, but claims he punched Stephen and was not the person who stabbed him.
Mr Lawrence said prior to the hearing that it was important for him to hear Stephen’s killers being named and for them to be brought to justice.
'It's important for me because of what these people have done,' he said.
'They ruined my life. They've caused me not to be able to live in this country. They've robbed me of the chance of seeing my son getting married, of having grandchildren.
'This man has robbed me of so much that there is no way I can even start to think that he should be allowed to walk free.'
In his victim statement, Norris told the court today that he will go to his grave with a heavy burden of guilt in his heart and 'rightfully so'.
He said: 'That night should never have happened and I am disgusted with myself for my part in the murder, especially as he had done nothing at all to provoke me and was innocent of any wrongdoing.
'I am also very sorry to his friend from that night for all the emotions he must have felt. I cannot imagine what he must have gone through.
'Once again, I would like to express my sincere apology for that. He and the victim didn't deserve this; they were just trying to get home.
'There are many reasons for my behaviour before, during and after the murder but none of them can justify my actions.
'I was a 16-year-old, horrible, violent and racist young kid who had gone so far off the rails there was a possibility I would never get back on track.'
Norris also said he confessed to a priest after seeing an advert for a documentary about Stephen while watching the World Cup in 2018 which featured the victim and his father.
He said: 'I sat there crying and the next day I thought I've got to do the right thing for my soul and hopefully bring some peace to the family.
'I understand I can't give the family what they want. I confessed my sins to a Roman Catholic priest the next day. And I spoke with my POM (prison offender manager) and said I wanted to engage in restorative justice.
'I've been trying to do that for ten years now. It's terrible to hear the pain that me and others have caused.'
Police believe Stephen, 18, was killed by a gang of up to six people in Eltham, south-east London, two of whom have been brought to justice - Norris and Gary Dobson.
The pair were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey on the basis of tiny forensic traces gathered using cutting-edge techniques.
The other suspects in the case were Jamie and Neil Acourt, who have since been convicted of unrelated drug offences, as well as Luke Knight.
A sixth suspect, Matthew White, died in 2021.
The College of Policing is leading a review of the most recent stage of the investigation into Stephen's death after Dobson and Norris were convicted.
Mr Lawrence said he is 'frustrated' at the pace of the justice system.
He has previously said he would be prepared to forgive his son's killers if they showed remorse - adding that naming names would be a sign Norris is sorry and of a potential change in attitude.
He said: 'If I was on that parole board, he would have to do that before I even think of him coming out.'
He added: 'He could name the rest of the people that were with him.
'He could name the person that actually stabbed Stephen and make a public apology to my family for killing my son.'
He said, 'I don't think he'll make a public apology to us', adding: 'I may be biased but I don't think he should be able to walk the street free - my son can't.'
Stephen was on his way to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks in Eltham in April 1993 when he was set upon and killed by a gang who used a racist term before they struck.
Incompetence and allegations of corruption, centred around Norris's drug dealer father Clifford Norris, dogged the investigation into Stephen's death for years.
There was also outrage when it emerged that undercover officers from the Metropolitan Police had spied on justice campaigners supporting the family.
In 1999, a public inquiry into Stephen's death found the force was institutionally racist.