No action over 'hidden evidence' claims in Stephen Lawrence murder case

No further action will be taken against a retired police officer and a civilian staff worker arrested over claims that evidence was hidden during the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry, the police watchdog has announced.

A 62-year-old retired constable and 53-year-old member of police staff were arrested in December on suspicion of perverting the course of justice by allegedly failing to pass on information relating to the killing.

The two were arrested after a Metropolitan police review into the 1993 murder inquiry uncovered material it was feared had not been disclosed during the original investigation nor two subsequent inquiries into the case.

A spokeswoman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said: "No further action will be taken against the two men arrested following concerns identified by the internal Metropolitan police service (MPS) review of the murder of Stephen Lawrence."

The two, who have not been named, had been released from bail. Officials are preparing to publish a full report revealing the circumstances of the suspected non-disclosure of information.

"The IPCC investigation is nearing conclusion and its findings will be published in due course," said the spokeswoman.

Mr Lawrence, 18, was murdered at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993. No-one has been convicted of the killing. Five men – Neil Acourt, his brother Jamie, David Norris, Gary Dobson, and Luke Knight – were arrested but charges against Neil Acourt and Knight were dropped because of insufficient evidence. Dobson, Knight and Neil Acourt were acquitted after a private prosecution bought by the Lawrence family collapsed at the Old Bailey in 1996.

A small team of Scotland Yard detectives continue to probe the death.