THE spectre of race hate is again looming in Eltham's streets, nine years after Stephen Lawrence's murder.

In the space of 48 hours, and within a mile of Stephen's stabbing, three black men were savagely attacked by white youths while being racially taunted.

All were hospitalised, one suffering serious stab wounds, after being targeted by thugs who wielded knives and broken bottles in two separate incidents on July 1 and 2.

Another victim, Lee Evans, 24, a systems analyst, is in constant pain after his jaw was smashed in two places and painstakingly wired back together. He is currently being fed through a straw.

The attacks mirror the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence in Well Hall Road, when five or six youths screamed racist abuse at the 18-year-old before stabbing him to death.

Greenwich police are not linking the two attacks but are investigating them both as racist incidents.

Investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Huw Jenkins told the News Shopper: "So far, there is no indication of a link between the attacks there are thousands of youths in Eltham and, though there are similarities, we have no reason to think there is a connection."

Earlier this year, four white men were arrested and now face criminal charges for bizarre attacks on the memorial plaque to the teenager.

CCTV footage taken from a police camera in Well Hall Road is alleged to show them spitting and stamping on the plaque, which is set into the pavement near where he died.

The surge in race-related violence has rocked Eltham. Residents told us they were sickened by the violence.

Hope Somma, 31, who moved to Eltham a year after Stephen's murder, commented: "I thought problems with racism were bad in the United States but I've found that it's just as bad here.

"It's incredible that, nine years on, some people still haven't learnt."

Jane Adams, 41, who has lived in the area all her life, added: "It seems like it's an ongoing thing around here but it's difficult to see what the police can do.

"There's so much trouble like this and they can't be everywhere at the same time."

She added: "But something has to done before there is another tragedy."

July 16, 2002 17:30