The five youths suspected of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence went on television last night to publicly protest their innocence for the first time.
But interviews with the five men screened on the launch edition of ITV's new current affairs flagship programme Tonight revealed inconsistencies in their versions of what happened on the night of Lawrence's death.
His parents, Mrs Doreen Lawrence and Mr Neville Lawrence, attacked the programme for giving the suspects a platform and refused to watch it or give an interview to its makers.
Mr Neil Acourt, Mr Jamie Acourt, Mr Gary Dobson, Mr Luke Knight and Mr David Norris were named as suspects by dozens of people after 18-year-old A-level student Stephen Lawrence was killed by a gang of white youths in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993.
But two murder cases - brought by police and by the Lawrence family - collapsed, and three of the youths were formally acquitted at the Old Bailey court, London.
On the programme, the suspects were asked one by one by interviewer Martin Bashir whether they were involved in the murder.
The five were interviewed individually and were not allowed to communicate with one another during filming, and Tonight's presenter Trevor McDonald said there were no restrictions on the questions asked.
The young men - aged between 15 and 18 at the time of the murder - admitted having got into trouble as teenagers, and the Acourt brothers agreed that they had carried knifes, but all denied having stabbed anyone.
Mr Dobson told Bashir that they were regarded as "loveable rogues" on the estate where they lived.
"We have never pretended to be angels. We have never pretended to be anything else but ourselves."
Mr Knight said: "I'm not saying I was an angel. I have never used a knife. I have never stabbed anyone. I have never killed anyone."
Mr Jamie Acourt said he carried a knife "for protection", claiming: "At the time a lot of young boys did carry stuff." Asked if he would have used it, he said "yes".
The programme revealed conflicts in the five men's accounts of how they spent the night of the murder. Mr Neil Acourt and Mr Dobson said they heard of the killing on the night it happened, but Neil's brother Jamie - who said he was with the other two - insisted it was not until the next day that the news reached them.
Mr Norris said he probably spent the night of the murder at his girlfriend's flat near the murder scene, despite having previously claimed he was at his parents' home in Chislehurst, Kent.
Having initially told Bashir he had no recollection whatsoever of the days surrounding Lawrence's death, Mr Norris seemed to recover his memory during the interview.
Mr Neil Acourt rejected Bashir's depiction of him as a racist knife-user who might have killed Lawrence: "It doesn't ring like that to me at all. It is not like that at all."
To the same question, Mr David Norris replied: "You are entitled to your opinion and 99 per cent of this country are of the same view. I know in my heart the truth. That is all that counts for me."
Mr Knight said: "I'm completely innocent and there is no evidence, not one piece of evidence to say I was there or involved or stabbed Stephen Lawrence." Mr Dobson replied simply: "No I wasn't" when asked if he was one of the five who had killed Lawrence.