The first episode focuses on the run-up to Stephen's murder and the police investigation that follows. As the suspects remain free, tip-offs from the community worry Doreen and Neville, Stephen's parents, about why the police are not making arrests. A visit from Nelson Mandela seems to prompt action, but Stephen's friend Duwayne, also a victim of the attack, gets into difficulty with the police. When the charges against the suspects are dropped, Doreen realises she must take action into her own hands.
A second police investigation captures shocking surveillance footage of the racism of the gang alleged to have killed Stephen. With help from their lawyer Imran Khan, Doreen and Neville Lawrence launch the first private murder prosecution in 150 years. When it collapses, questions about the failure of the first police investigation mount. The Daily Mail stages a dramatic intervention. A public inquiry shines an uncomfortable light on the police and leads to some devastating revelations.
Stephen's killers remain free. The public inquiry leads to a change in the law that means that the suspects can be retried. Questions of racism and corruption swirl around the police. An unconventional detective, Clive Driscoll, takes on the case and, with the help of advances in forensic science, arrests Gary Dobson and David Norris. As justice seems to be done, revelations that the police spied on the Lawrence family start to surface.
