But in the Mail's defence (blimey, I never thought I'd write that), Dacre was a staunch supporter of Stephen Lawrence's family and their quest for justice and the Mail was the paper that named those who were allegedly responsible as 'murderers'. That couldn't have pleased the Mail's more unpleasant base. One reason for Dacre's line, though, was that he knew Stephen's father, who'd done some decorating for him.