Authorities in London who are investigating the racially motivated murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993 have admitted that a bag strap found near the crime scene was erroneously recorded as being much further from the crime scene due to misread punctuation.

A 23-year-old murder case may have stalled, in part, because of misread punctuation, reports The Telegraph.

The victim was a black 18-year old named Stephen Lawrence who, in 1993, was fatally stabbed in London by a group of white men with racist motives. 

Two of the attackers, David Norris and Gary Dobson, were convicted of the crime in 2012, but authorities continued to search for others.

Part of the evidence at the crime scene included the strap of a handbag which had erroneously been recorded as being more than 200 feet away from the attack site when, in fact, it was just 50 feet away. 

Chris Le Pere, a senior member of the case team, recently acknowledged the discrepancy, attributing it to an accidental misreading of the original crime scene notes due to overlooked punctuation. 

Le Pere now suspects the strap could have been used as part of a weapon used to attack the victim. 

His team is currently looking for the woman the bag may have belonged to, as they believe she could be an important witness.