I received the sad news that Sir William Macpherson, the retired High Court judge who led the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, has died at the age of 94.

A distinguished army career, followed with time at the Bar and then on the bench, he had a major impact... 1/

Almost twenty-three years ago he was tasked with coming out of retirement to lead the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and was accused of being out of touch by virtue of coming from high Scottish gentry as the head of the Macpherson clan. How wrong people were...

In 2019, I was lucky to speak to him about his reflections on two decades since the seminal report on how the Met Police handled the aftermath. He hadn't spoken about it since, was reluctant to speak, and understandably suspicious of the media in general.

At the time the inquiry was being held at the Elephant & Castle (famously where suspects walked); he would catch the bus every morning at dawn from Islington and let himself into the building to start his work. He had no drivers, no security, nothing but a clear focus for the job

When I spoke to Jack Straw (then Home Sec) he told me the appointment of Macpherson was met with suspicion by everyone (including the Lawrence family). Macpherson knew this. And he was determined to show his fierce independence to follow the evidence without fear or favour.