A member of the racist gang that killed black teenager Stephen Lawrence is attempting to sue the Government after being beaten up in prison, it was reported.

David Norris, who was imprisoned in 2012 for the 1993 murder, is said to be looking for £10,000 compensation from the Ministry of Justice after he was attacked by inmates at Belmarsh Prison in Woolwich.

Norris has said the Government failed to protect him.

As reported in the Sun on Sunday, the father-of-five from south-east London was found covered in blood in his cell and needed hospital treatment for a broken nose and ribs.

Norris was convicted with Gary Dobson five years ago for the murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence, who was stabbed to death by a gang in a racially motivated murder in Eltham.

The two were sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum jail term of 15 years and two months, and 14 years and three months respectively.

A Prison Service woman said: “We have cut our compensation costs by more than £1m over the past year.

“We robustly defend all claims and are successful in two thirds of cases brought against us by prisoners.”

During the trial, Norris’s defending counsel Stephen Batten QC said his client had been beaten up “several times”. He told jurors at the Old Bailey that during one attack while on remand in Belmarsh prison, Norris’s nose was broken, he lost teeth and suffered four broken ribs.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe pledged to catch the other suspects believed to have taken part in the attack.