Cop who cracked Lawrence murder helping kids to avoid knife crime with football

16 December 2023 , 19:31

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Clive Driscoll on the pitch

The detective who nailed two of the killers of Stephen Lawrence is tackling knife crime by teaching football to vulnerable kids.

Clive Driscoll’s project comes a decade after he gathered evidence to bring justice for the family of the teenager who was stabbed by a gang of racists. Now retired, Clive, 72, runs coaching sessions a few miles from the bus stop where Stephen died in April 1993.

Clive told us: “We get a group of youngsters together and it’s about breaking down the gang mentality, steering them away from carrying knives, and giving them greater opportunities. A lot of these young people have become a bit complacent about knife crime, believing it’s just how it is – but I strongly believe it is not how it is, and we must not allow it to become so.”

Clive Driscoll as a DCI (ITN)

In the sessions, Met officers play alongside local youngsters in Tulse Hill, South London. Aspiring architect Stephen, 18, was left to bleed to death in Eltham, nine miles away.

The kickabouts also include a half-time lecture covering issues from stop-and-search to drug abuse and arranged marriage. Clive added: “The idea is very simple – it’s to involve police officers with young people in a non-confrontational environment and I can say it has worked.

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“A detective sergeant comes along and plays in full uniform, and the kids absolutely love him. We actually stopped a murder because the kids spoke to him and said someone was plotting to kill a local lad, so officers were able to intervene and managed to stop it. This is about giving young people a chance.”

Stephen Lawrence died in April 1993 (PA)

Clive Driscoll at the scene where Stephen Lawrence was murdered (STEVE FINN PHOTOGRAPHY)

Clive, then a detective chief inspector, began looking into the Lawrence case after an officer told him to throw out the files. Despite tip-offs, murderers Gary Dobson and David Norris escaped justice for nearly two decades. Clive snared them in 2012 and was optimistic others would be charged.

Clive, cops and youngsters at London session

He was played by Steve Coogan in 2021 ITV drama Stephen which explored sightings of a sixth gang member – finally named by the BBC in June as Matthew White, with help from Clive.

The BBC said Clive arrested White in 2013 but could not complete his investigation after Scotland Yard replaced him as senior investigating officer and he was asked to retire.

Heroin addict White died in 2021 aged 50. Dobson and Norris are serving life jail terms.

Saskia Rowlands