The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Lawrence killing suspect may be hiding in Spain
Man among 10 people wanted by police
A suspect in the murder of Stephen Lawrence who is wanted for drug dealing is among 10 British criminals thought to be hiding in Spain.
Jamie Acourt, 40, from southeast London, was allegedly part of a cannabis-dealing gang between January 2014 and February 2016.
He previously achieved notoriety after he was named as one of the suspects in the investigation into the racist murder of 18-yearold Stephen. The teenager was killed by up to six attackers in 1993, two of whom, David Norris and Gary Dobson, were convicted and are serving life sentences.
Another suspect on the list is Shane O’Brien, 28, accused of murdering 21-year-old Josh Hanson in an unprovoked knife attack in a bar in Hillingdon, west London in October 2015.
Police believe he has “strong links” to Spain, and uses a false identity to evade capture. A second line of investigation is that he may be in Dubai.
The “most wanted” gallery also includes suspected fraudster Mark Acklom, 43, from London, who allegedly posed as a Swiss banker and an MI6 agent as he fleeced a woman, whom he said h e w o u l d marr y, out of £850,000.
Accused conman Acklom convinced her that he needed money to renovate a property, which she later found out he did not own. The alleged victim, Carolyn Woods, 55, said: “I was completely devastated, he left me destitute and destroyed my life.”
Investigators are also hunting convicted fraudster Sarah Panitzke, 42, from Fulford, North Yorkshire, who laundered £1billion as part of amassive tax scam and is due to serve an eight-year jail term for conspiracy to acquire criminal property.