ONE of the two men accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence was making toast at the time of the attack, his mum told a court today.

Pauline Dobson, mother of defendant Gary Dobson, told the Old Bailey her son was at home on the night of April 22, 1993, when Mr Lawrence was attacked.

She also said he had never worn the jacket or cardigan at the heart of the forensic evidence linking him to the killing.

Mrs Dobson told the jury she knew her son was at home all night and that she saw him making toast at around 10.30pm, the time of the attack.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Mark Ellison, Dobson's mother accepted that she had originally told police she probably saw her son in the kitchen 10 to 15 minutes after Mr Lawrence had been stabbed.

Mr Ellison said: "Those 10 minutes could be extremely important because the people who attacked Stephen Lawrence could have been back in their homes by then."

Mrs Dobson replied: "I'm sorry, give or take 10 minutes.

She added: "Gary never left home that night."

Mr Lawrence had been with his friend Duwayne Brooks when they were ambushed in Well Hall Road, Eltham.

Before his mother was cross-examined, Dobson continued to give evidence for a second day running.

Questioning Dobson about that night's events, Mr Ellison said: "I suggest you went out, not for a night out, you were just out of the house and you came across him [Stephen] in Well Hall Road at about 10.30pm.

"And you saw, all of you saw, two black boys on your manor, on the pavement leading into your estate where you live and to you lot on that day, that was a real provocation, seeing what you term as 'two n******' on your manor and you attacked them, didn't you?"

Dobson looked straight at the jury and replied: "Definitely not. Absolutely not."

Yesterday Dobson told jurors he had gone to a friend's house, after his parents had gone to bed, for a smoke and to borrow a Bob Marley CD.

He claimed this was after the time of the attack on Mr Lawrence.

Jurors were also shown covert footage filmed by the police of both Dobson and co-defendant David Norris using racist language, repeatedly referring to black people as n****rs.

Dobson, 36, and Norris, 35, deny murder.

The trial continues.