London's police chief says it would be "cowardly" for him to quit the force.

Sir Paul tells the Daily Mail newspaper he plans to see through the millennium celebrations in the capital, before retiring in January 2000.

He also told the BBC in October last year that it would be "cowardly" to quit.

Stephen Lawrence: No one has been convicted of his murder

His comments then followed his apology to Stephen's parents for the "failures" of the police investigation into the murder.

The 18-year-old was stabbed at a bus-stop in Eltham, south-east London in 1993, but no one has been convicted.

Sir Paul, speaking a fortnight ahead of the expected publication of the Lawrence inquiry report - which is sure to include damning criticism of his force - told the Mail: "If I felt that anyone was saying that I personally had acted badly, or dishonourably, then I wouldn't hesitate to go.

"But the responsibility of leadership is that you lead your organisation through good times and bad.

"My view was that it would be cowardly to leave the Met."

Campaigners at the inquiry called for Sir Paul to resign

The commissioner also spoke about his appearance at the Lawrence inquiry.

He says: "It was three hours of booing and jeering and was profoundly unpleasant, but I owed it to my officers.

"I owed it to the Lawrences and the public to be seen there."

Although he has accepted serious mistakes were made in the investigation into Stephen's murder, Sir Paul says he believes some of the criticisms of his officers have been extremely unfair.

Some younger officers "who thought they were doing their best, have been unfairly, savagely criticised".

Officer 'devastated'

He says: "The first policeman on the scene was an off-duty officer who stopped on his way home with his wife.

"He found a blanket and stayed with Stephen.

"He went to the inquiry thinking perhaps he'd be thanked for being a good Samaritan. He was then accused of letting Stephen die because he didn't want a black man's blood on his hands.

"That young man is devastated by this accusation."

Scotland Yard says new avenues are being pursued in the case, but Sir Paul admits the chances of anyone now being convicted of the killing are slim.

He says: "We haven't given up. We still have a team working on the murder, but the reality is that the chances of a conviction are pretty remote.

"Normally you only convict people if you have forensic evidence or very strong witnesses or confessions, and we're not going to have any of those things."