A former suspect in the murder of Stephen Lawrence has been jailed for more than six years over a £4m drug plot.
Neil Acourt was arrested but not prosecuted for the racist murder of the black 18-year-old, who was stabbed to death by a group of white men in Eltham in 1993, but he now faces a spell in prison after he and his six-member gang were caught “red-handed” with 100kg of cannabis.
The 41-year-old, also known as Neil Stuart, was described as the “man at the top” of a scheme funnelling huge amounts of the drug to the north-east of England. He was sentenced on Friday at Kingston crown court alongside his best friend and father-in-law.
He was jailed for six years and three months for conspiracy to supply a class B drug, with recorder Paul Clements describing the plot as a planned and concerted effort to move substantial amounts of cannabis “that in any estimation would have kept the people of the Newcastle area in spliffs for many a long day”.
The plot took place over two years and involved dozens of 600-mile (965km) round trips from London to the South Shields area, during which they transported drugs and cash.
Clements told all six men involved in the plot that is was “stupid and criminal”. He said: “The police caught red-handed some of you, with in effect 100kg of cannabis. A substantial amount by any standards.
“There was a sufficient flow of money down the channel that there must have been other transportations of cannabis. Look at you all now sitting there, from the age running from 28 to 63. All thoroughly ashamed and all to one degree or another you have ruined your lives.
“All recognise the depth of the criminality, all apparently recognising how damaging drugs are to the people addicted to them. All of you were involved in a pre-planned concerted conspiracy to move substantial amounts of cannabis that in any estimation would have kept the people of Newcastle area in spliffs for many a long day.”
Jonas Milner, defending Acourt, who has two previous convictions unrelated to drugs, said his client “genuinely regrets” his actions and was a family man.
Acourt’s role in the plot was to handle bundles of cash, ranging from £15,000 to £40,000 each, in return for 2.5% of the money the gang made. Also jailed were Acourt’s childhood friend James Botton, 45, his father-in-law Jack Vose, 63, and family friend Lee Birks, 55, as well as Paul Beavers, 49, and Daniel Thompson, 28.
Lawrence was killed by a group of up to six white males in an unprovoked attack as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, with a friend on 22 April 1993. Acourt was arrested but not prosecuted for the killing, while in 2012 two other suspects, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were convicted of murdering Lawrence and jailed for life.
In 2002 Norris and Acourt were jailed for 18 months following a racist attack on an off-duty police officer during which Norris hurled a drink and shouted “nigger” at the officer while Acourt drove a vehicle at him. The attack took place less than a mile away from where Lawrence was murdered a decade earlier.
