A FORMER Derbyshire police chief who worked with the police service and government following the racially-motivated murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993 says that more needs to be done to improve race relations in the UK.
Kul Mahay spent more than 30 years working with Derbyshire Constabulary before setting up his own emotional intelligence and leadership business, Ignite Your Inner Potential.
During his time in the police, Kul went on to bevome one the origiinal founders of the Black Police Association and vice president of the National Black Police Association. He was also involved in advising the police service and government of the day to respond to some of the chamges recommended by the report into the death of Stephen Lawrence– the Macpherson Report – which was led by the late Sir William Macpherson and uncovered major failings in the original police investigation.
His comments come following the conclusion of a three-part ITV series – Stephen. The drama is a sequel to the 1999 drama created by Paul Greengrass and picks up the story in 2006, 13 years after the tragic death of teenager Stephen.
It stars Sharlene Whyte, Steve Coogan and Hugh Quarshie and will focus on the story of DCI Clive Driscoll, the lead detective who managed to forge a friendship with the Lawrences over the years it took to achieve two convictions.
Even though the Lawrence family – mum Doreen and dad Neville – knew the identity of their son’s killers, the initial investigation into his death failed to convict those responsible.
Determined to gain justice for Stephen, the Lawrence family led an extraordinary campaign which resulted in a public inquiry – the Macpherson Report which brought about sweeping changes in the law and police practices, transforming thinking and understanding of racial inequlity in the UK.
It took a further six years after the inquiry, though, before progress was made on the case.
Kul, from Derby, said: “What happened to Stephen Lawrence was terribly tragic and the way his family were treated, with distrust and disrespect following his death, should never have happened.
“I was honoured to play a small part in bringing about change, to meet with Home Secretaries to help develop new policies to create equal quality of policing across all communities – and it improved things for a time.
“However, incidents over the past 18 months – such as the death of George Floyd in America and racial abuse suffered by England footballers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after missing their penalties in the European Championship final against Italy – show that there is still work to do when it comes to race relations.
“Those incidents are a stark reminder to us all, across all sectors of society, that our mission to create equal and respectful societies is far from over. We need to do everything we can to root out discrimination in any form, to create organisational cultures that are based around love – love for what we do and love for our fellow humans.
“It requires the very best of leadership and strong emotional intelligence at the core of everything we do.”
Stephen is available to view on the ITV Hub.
ENDS
For further information please contact Kerry Ganly on 07734 723951 or email [email protected]
