Lawrence Christopher

**Lawrence Christopher** was an architect and victim of a racist hate crime who died in Central Police custody in 2003.

## Background

Christopher was born in The City where the show takes place, and at the time of his death in 2003 lived in the Edge Park area. He was a university graduate and employed as an architect.

## Series 6

### Episode 5

It is revealed that Jimmy Lakewell informed DI Steve Arnott that one of the cases of police corruption Gail Vella was investigating was the death of Christopher in police custody, and the subsequent police cover-up. In a briefing by DC Chloe Bishop, it is revealed that Christopher was a young architect who was attacked on his way home in the Moss Heath area of The City in 2003. The men who attacked him were a group of opportunistic racists, comprising of Thomas McTulloch, Robert Parker, Michael Harrison, and Samuel Bush. Another member of the group was Darren Hunter, the son of Organised Crime Group senior figure Tommy Hunter. After the attack he was found injured and stumbling by a member of the public who called the police.

When officers from the Patrol Unit arrived, they found him "uncooperative" and arrested him, throwing him into a custody cell without subjecting him to any form of medical examination. A post-mortem would later reveal that during the attack Christopher's skull had been fractured by a lead pipe and he was slowly internally haemorrhaging. His cries for help were ignored by the custody officers, who instead mocked him with racist taunts whilst he died.

After significant pressure from Christopher's family, an investigation into his attack was ordered, with DCI Marcus Thurwell appointed as the Senior Investigating Officer. Although the group who attacked him were on the police radar for a series of previous attacks, Thurwell waited over three weeks to arrest them, claiming he was "unaware" he was able to "arrest them on mere suspicion". By this time the group had solidified their alibis and made their appearances look similar. This resulted in any form of identity parade being ineffective and the case was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service due to lack of evidence.

Anti Corruption Unit 12 links Thurwell to the case of Oliver Stephens-Lloyd, who was murdered by the Organised Crime Group before he was able to reveal the sexual abuse occurring in the Sands View Boys Home. Thurwell was a Detective Inspector at the time, who worked on the case under then CSU Patrick Fairbank. It is hypothesised by Superintendent Ted Hastings that Thurwell was also working for the Organised Crime Group, and was instructed by Tommy Hunter to sabotage the investigation into Christophers murder in order to protect his son Darren Hunter.

### Episode 6

When referencing the murder during the interrogation of DSU Joanne Davidson, Superintendent Ted Hastings refers to Christopher as a "model citizen" who had his "whole life ahead of him", and compares his tragic early death to that of journalist Gail Vella.

## Trivia

His name is a combined reference to the real life cases of Stephen Lawrence and Christopher Adler, who also died in police custody due to racism and inaction from the police.