The anniversary of the death of Stephen Lawrence is to be marked on April 22 each year by a national commemoration of his life and legacy, to be known as Stephen Lawrence Day, Theresa May has announced. Mrs May was among a number of national figures, including Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, who joined Stephen's parents Doreen and Neville at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in central London. In an introduction to the order of service, Doreen Lawrence wrote: “I wish for Stephen’s name not to be identified by his murder, but by the mark he has left on this country and the wider world and for the role model he was and continues to be for many young people today, even though the majority of them would not have been born at the time of his death.”



She added: “It has been a long journey that is not over yet, for there are many injustices that are still taking place today.”



Stephen was murdered by a gang of five youths in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993. The failure of police to investigate Stephen’s murder properly and bring to account those responsible, and their shocking treatment of his family and friend Duwayne Brooks, led to a watershed moment in race relations in the UK. The government will work alongside the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust - set up to transform the lives of young people and campaign for social change - to deliver an annual commemoration to the death of Stephen Lawrence, which was considered a watershed moment in race relations in the UK.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces that henceforth April 22 will be marked nationally as Stephen Lawrence Day to commemorate the black teenager murdered 25 years ago in a racist assault. The high-profile crime led to the Metropolitan Police being labeled "institutionally racist".