Former murder suspect must pay drug cash

A FORMER suspect in the murder of Stephen Lawrence has been ordered to repay £6,000 reaped from a drug ring or face a further four months behind bars.

Neil Acourt was jailed for six years and three months last February for conspiracy to supply Class B drugs as part of a £750,000 criminal scheme.

He was said to have been the “man at the top” of a two-year conspiracy which involved dozens of 600-mile round trips from London to the South Shields area, ferrying drugs up and taking cash back.

The 42-year-old, of Eltham, south-east London, was arrested in relation to the racist attack on 18-year-old Mr Lawrence, who was stabbed to death by a gang of white men at a bus stop in Eltham in 1993.

But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) discontinued the case against him after a meeting with the senior investigating officer.

Acourt, also known as Neil Stuart, was brought from HMP Standford Hill for a confiscation hearing at Kingston Crown Court.

Judge Susan Tapping found, on the balance of probabilities, the plot saw 10 trips involving 55 kilograms of cannabis and two involving 100 kilograms. Each kilogram was worth £1,000.

Acourt, who appeared wearing a grey prison tracksuit, and two of his co-conspirators, were found to each be liable for the full amount. He was said to have £6,000 of assets to his name and was told to repay that sum under the Proceeds of Crime Act, along with a victim surcharge of £120.

He will have three months to pay and if he defaults will receive a further four months in jail, the judge ruled. A Serious Crime Prevention Order was also put in place, effective from the day of his release, which requires him to keep police informed of the vehicles he uses and his financial affairs.

Acourt’s childhood friend James Botton, 46, of Greenwich, London, and father-in-law Jack Vose, 64, of Bexley, Kent, were each jailed for four years and nine months over the plot. Both were said to currently have £1 available to them and were told to pay it within seven days or face an extra day in jail. They were also told to pay a victim surcharge of £120.