Men get 14 and 15 years for UK black teen's murder

[January 04, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- A British judge has sentenced two men to minimum prison terms of 14 years and 3 months and 15 years and 2 months for stabbing a black London teenager to death almost two decades ago.

The murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence shocked the country and came to be seen as a festering racial injustice. It took 19 years before anyone was convicted, and three other suspects remain at large.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted Tuesday. On Wednesday, Dobson received the 15 years and 2 months sentence. Norris was jailed for 14 years and 3 months.

Judge Colman Treacy said the murder was an evil crime motivated by racial hatred.

Because Dobson and Norris were teenagers at the time, their minimum sentences were shorter than if they had been adults.

[Associated Press]

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