The Lawrence Report: The Inquiry Team - Judge Whose Sympathy Surprised All

Burrell, Ian, The Independent (London, England)

A 72-YEAR-OLD Highland chieftain was perhaps not the obvious choice to lead the journey through Britain's inner cities at the head of the most important inquiry in our race relations history. Certainly, Michael Mansfield QC and Imran Khan, the lawyers for the family of Stephen Lawrence, did not think so.

When Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, the 27th chief of Clan Macpherson, was appointed to head the inquiry into Stephen's murder, they objected. The retired judge, they believed, was a deeply conservative, Establishment man, with little sympathy for black people.

Stephen's parents, Neville and Doreen Lawrence, were so scared by newspaper reports citing Sir …

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Publication information: Article title: The Lawrence Report: The Inquiry Team - Judge Whose Sympathy Surprised All. Contributors: Burrell, Ian - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: February 25, 1999. Page number: 10. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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