April 22 1993 - Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racist Eltham gang attack.

26-30 April 1993 - Police surveillance operation on four suspects.

May 7 1993 - Police carry out searches at the suspects' homes.

May 13 1993 - Neil Acourt is charged with the murder. He and Norris are also charged with the attempted murder of another man - Stacey Benefield - a month before.

July 29 1993 - Charges against Mr Acourt and another man, Luke Knight, are dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

April 18 1996 - Mr Acourt, Mr Knight and Dobson appear at the Old Bailey in a private prosecution brought by the family. The case collapses.

February 13 1997 - An inquest into the death ends and concludes Mr Lawrence was "unlawfully killed by five white youths".

1997 – Daily Mail publishes its famous front page, naming the five as Mr Lawrence’s killers.

July 31 1997 – The Home Secretary announces a judicial inquiry.

December 15 1997 - Police Complaints Authority says there were "significant weaknesses, omissions and lost opportunities" during the initial police investigation.

February 24 1999 - Macpherson report is published accusing the Met of “institutional racism”.

May 5 2004 – Crown Prosecution Service says there is "insufficient evidence" to prosecute anybody for the killing.

April 2005 - Double jeopardy rule is abolished.

July 2006 – ‘The Boys Who Killed Stephen Lawrence’, a BBC documentary alleges police corruption in the case. The IPCC later rules there was no evidence for this.

November 2007 – Police reveal that new scientific evidence is being investigated.

May 18 2011 - Announcement that Gary Dobson and David Norris will stand trial for the killing.

November 15 2011 - Trial begins.