Reports suggest one of Stephen Lawrence’s killers has accepted he was at the scene of the murder but claims he did not wield the knife, the Parole Board has said.

The board made the disclosure as it agreed a hearing on freeing David Norris should take place in public.

The racist murder of Mr Lawrence, 18, is one of the most notorious cases of modern times.

He was killed in an unprovoked attack by a gang of five or six white youths as he waited to catch a bus in Eltham, southeast London, in April 1993.

Norris, now 48, was one of only two people, alongside Gary Dobson, to be jailed for the murder in 2012.

His minimum jail term expired in December and he’s now set to be considered for release on licence.

As part of the background to the case, the Parole Board said Norris had continued to deny the offence after his trial.

However, it said he appeared to have changed his story.

“Recent reports now suggest he has accepted he was present at the scene and punched the victim but claims that he did not wield the knife,” said the board’s vice chair Peter Rook KC.

“He does not accept he holds racist views.”

The nature of the reports is not detailed by the Parole Board.

The board said Norris had been diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after several assaults on him in prison.

Norris’s solicitors argued that holding his hearing in public would increase the risk he faces and said he would “suffer additional emotional distress”, the board added.

Among other objections, his lawyers said there was “no good reason” to depart from the usual protocol of private hearings – and that Norris wouldn’t be able to give his “best evidence” in public.

The board disagreed and approved the media request – supported by Stephen’s parents – to hold it in the open.

Mr Rook said Norris’s psychological reports had been considered, but were trumped by factors such as the ongoing public interest in the case.

He said this interest remained high due to the failings and racism that marred the case – detailed in the 1999 Macpherson report.

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“I have concluded that it is in the interests of justice for there to be a public hearing in this case,” he wrote.

“The compelling factors in favour of a public hearing outweigh the points raised on Mr Norris’ behalf. I am satisfied that the Parole Board’s ability to carry out its core functions will not be compromised by this hearing being in public.”

A date for the hearing has still to be set.

Heathrow Airport is to remain shut until midnight due to a large fire at a nearby electricity substation.

A spokesperson said it was “experiencing a significant power outage across the airport” and warned passengers to stay away until further notice.

A statement said: “Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.

“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025.”

“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” the statement added.

The fire is at a substation in Hayes, about 1.5 miles away, and thousands of homes are believed to be without power.

Images show large flames and plumes of thick black smoke.

London Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports and had a record 83.9 million passengers last year, with a plane landing or taking off around every 45 seconds.

The airport’s website is currently down as travellers scramble for information.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said overnight that 10 engines and around 70 firefighters were at the scene on Nestles Avenue.

It said a transformer within the substation is alight, but the cause is so far unknown.

Around 150 people have been evacuated and a 200-metre cordon is in place.

LFB said it had received more than 190 calls over the incident – with the first received at 11.23pm.

Residents have been urged to keep windows and doors closed due to the “significant amount of smoke”.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said at 12.23am on X that a “widespread power cut” was affecting Hayes, Hounslow and surrounding areas.

However, it estimated it would be “resolved by 3am”

A graphic on the company’s website suggested around 16,000 homes were affected.

Firefighters from Heathrow, Hayes, Hillingdon, Southall and other stations are all involved in the response.

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Vladimir Putin will break any peace agreement with Ukraine that is not “defended” by an international coalition of forces, the British prime minister has said.

Sir Keir Starmer was talking on Thursday as he visited a UK base to meet a group of senior military officers from more than 30 nations tasked with turning a political desire to support Kyiv into an actionable plan to help protect the country from land, sea and air in the event of a ceasefire.

But, with Donald Trump pushing hard for Russia and Ukraine to stop fighting now, there are concerns among analysts that the “coalition of the willing” – led by the UK and France – will be overtaken by events, with peace declared before it has time to get its act together.

In a sign of the challenge, the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa was struck on Thursday night by what its governor described as a “massive” Russian drone attack even as the US president talked up the prospects for peace.

US negotiators are set to meet separately with Ukrainian and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday to try to make progress on a ceasefire.

Mr Trump also claimed he was on the brink of signing an economic deal with Ukraine – something that has been trailed for weeks as a key step in strengthening US-Ukraine relations and locking in Washington’s support for Kyiv’s future, but has yet to materialise.

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Clearly alive to the urgency to act, Sir Keir greeted the group of visiting military planners at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood, on the edge of London.

They gathered around a large map of Ukraine spread out across a table.

“Now is the time to be doing this,” the prime minister told the officers from a range of European and other allied countries, including Turkey, the Netherlands and Canada. Ukrainian officers were also present as well as NATO officials.

“We don’t know what the outcome of any [peace] talks is going to be, but we do know that if there is a deal, it’s important to have done the preparation beforehand.”

The size and shape of what Western officials have described as a “reassurance force” for Ukraine are unclear – so too what kind of military headquarters would command it.

Initial briefings on the concept suggested it could involve thousands of troops deployed to cities and to protect critical infrastructure such as nuclear power stations, but kept back from frontline areas, while Royal Air Force warplanes and other countries’ jets would protect Ukraine’s skies, and various navies, including the Royal Navy, would help secure the sea.

Yet, without US support, the European offer, even with backing from other aligned nations such as Canada, would not act as much of a deterrence to Russia.

And that is if the coalition is ready to deploy in time for any ceasefire.

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The British prime minister said peace would only endure if “it is a defended deal”.

He offered a sense of what the military planners have been tasked with delivering after the political leaders of all the countries involved agreed to work together to help Ukraine.

“What’s happening here is turning that political intention into reality – the concept into plans, whether that’s in relation to what might happen at sea or air or defending borders,” Sir Keir said.

“But it is vitally important we do that work because we know one thing for certain, which is a deal without anything behind it is something that Putin will breach.

“We know that because it’s happened before. And I’m absolutely clear in my mind it will happen again.”