Lawyers acting for the family of Stephen Lawrence were last night considering private action following confirmation that none of the police officers involved in the botched investigation into their son's murder will be disciplined.
Mr and Mrs Lawrence reacted emotionally and angrily to the news that the only detective facing disciplinary action for the mishandling of the murder inquiry is to take early retirement.
The news came just 24 hours after the Police Complaints Authority had said Det Insp Ben Bullock would face seven charges of neglect of duty.
Mr Neville Lawrence, Stephen's father, had already denounced the PCA decision that Mr Bullock alone would face charges because four other senior officers open to blame over the conduct of the inquiry into the 1993 murder had since quit the Metropolitan Police.
Yesterday Mr Imran Khan, a lawyer for the Lawrence family, said the news that Mr Bullock would similarly escape disciplinary action amounted to "injustice heaped on injustice". And Mrs Doreen Lawrence said it was as if her son "was being killed all over again".
Speaking on GMTV, Mrs Lawrence continued: "When my son was killed, nobody was there to catch the killers. And now disciplinary action actually can be taken after nearly six years, he ups and retires and still gets his full pension and yet we are still here suffering."
Mrs Lawrence said: "I have no idea which avenue we are going to take, but I'm telling you, we are going to do something.
"This just can't be allowed to happen. Why on earth do a family have to go through this? What did we ever do wrong?
"All we've done was to bring our son up to respect the law, and the law has treated us in this way."
Mr Khan said he had to consider whether to proceed by way of a private prosecution or a possible action for negligence.
He said: "Those that were considered responsible for the murder have got away with it, and those officers considered to be instrumental in not finding the murderers and having them prosecuted properly are also going to get away with it . . ."
His understanding was that Mr Bullock was informed on Monday that he faced charges, and that he submitted his retirement papers on Tuesday.
However, Mr Glen Smythe, of the Metropolitan Police Federation, insisted Mr Bullock had decided to retire well before the PCA decision.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Smythe said Mr Bullock did not know what charges he faced, and had always made known to his superiors that he intended to retire after 30 years' service.
Mr Smythe insisted Mr Bullock had put his retirement plan in process without knowing the outcome of the PCA inquiry.
Mr Smythe said: "He has not been found guilty of anything. It's one thing to bring charges. It's another finding them proved."
And he continued: "Stephen Lawrence was murdered by racist thugs. He was not murdered by Det Insp Bullock, whose dearest wish, if he had that time again, would be to pursue those people and hopefully arrive at a situation where those responsible were brought to justice."
But the chairman of the Police Complaints Authority, Mr Peter Moorhouse, told the same programme: "It's right that officers should account for their actions when they are charged under the discipline code.
"Therefore I very much regret that none of the officers will have to account. The situation which allows this to happen is an abuse of that process.
"My sympathies are entirely with the [Lawrence] family."
Mr Moorhouse called for a new system which would oblige an officer leaving the force, while facing serious disciplinary charges, to do so.