The announcement that two men are, at last, to stand trial at the Old Bailey for the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence is more than just a dramatic development in an 18-year-long murder case. It is a watershed in both race relations and criminal justice in contemporary Britain.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were arrested and charged with the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence in September last year, but the director of public prosecutions sought and was granted an order preventing the media making any mention of the arrests or charges.