Murder of Philip Lawrence

Philip Ambrose Lawrence (21 August 1947 – 8 December 1995) was an Irish-born headmaster who grew up in County Wicklow, Ireland, and was educated at Ampleforth College and Queens' College, Cambridge. He taught at several schools in London, including St. Benedict's School, Gunnersbury Boys' School, St. Mark's School, and Dick Sheppard School, before becoming headmaster of St George's Catholic School in Maida Vale in 1993. Under his leadership, the school's exam results and reputation improved significantly during his two years as head.

On 8 December 1995, twelve members of a gang calling itself Wo Shing Wo, led by 15-year-old Learco Chindamo, went to St George's School intending to confront 13-year-old pupil William Njoh, who had earlier quarrelled with a Filipino pupil. Lawrence saw the gang attacking Njoh with an iron bar and went outside to intervene. Chindamo punched Lawrence and then stabbed him in the chest. Lawrence, aged 48, died in hospital that evening from his injuries. Musician Tokio Myers, then an 11-year-old pupil at the school, witnessed the murder.

Chindamo was arrested and charged shortly after the attack. He was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey in October 1996 following a unanimous jury verdict and was jailed indefinitely because of his age at the time of the offence; the trial judge recommended a minimum term of 12 years. Chindamo did not deny his presence at the scene but claimed mistaken identity, alleging that another boy who had borrowed his jacket was the actual killer. During the trial his claimed links to Chinese Triad society were shown to be false. He lost an appeal against his conviction on 10 October 1997. He had also been a suspect in an earlier non-fatal stabbing of a businessman in Camden but was acquitted of that offence.

The killing intensified public concern in the United Kingdom in the 1990s about violence involving school-age youths and safety in schools, alongside other incidents including the fatal stabbing of a pupil in Middlesbrough in March 1994, the Dunblane school shooting in March 1996, and a machete attack at a Wolverhampton nursery in July 1996. These events contributed to strengthened security measures at British schools. Lawrence was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal in June 1997, and the Philip Lawrence Awards were established in his honour, first presented in March 1997.

In August 2007, an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal ruled that Chindamo could not be deported to Italy after completing his sentence, citing his long UK residency and human rights protections relating to family life. The ruling was criticised by Lawrence's widow, Frances Lawrence, and by political figures including then-opposition leader David Cameron. Following a parole board recommendation, Chindamo was released in July 2010 after serving 14 years. He was later arrested in November 2010 in connection with an alleged mugging and recalled to custody; he was acquitted of robbery in August 2011 but remained detained due to licence conditions. In May 2014, the Parole Board approved his re-release after further custody.