'Mail' escapes contempt charge

The newspaper which branded five unconvicted men as the murderers of Stephen Lawrence will not face contempt of court proceedings. The office of Sir Nicholas Lyell, the Attorney General, said yesterday: "The Attorney General has considered carefully the suggestion that articles published by the Daily Mail following the inquest into the death of Stephen Lawrence might constitute contempt of court at common law. He has concluded that proceedings for contempt would not be justified."

The paper challenged the five to sue if it was wrong in naming them as Stephen's murderers, after an inquest jury ruled that the 18-year-old was unlawfully killed in Eltham, south-east London, in what the jury described as a "completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths".