Stephen Lawrence murder suspect Jamie Acourt jailed for 'flagrant' breach of court order
Jamie Acourt has been sent back to prison after failing to tell police he was driving a transit van on 12 separate occasions between 11 August and 21 October
One of the men suspected of murdering Stephen Lawrence has been jailed for six months after showing a "flagrant disregard" for a serious criminal behaviour order.
Jamie Acourt, 48, was arrested on suspicion of killing Stephen, 18, after he was stabbed to death in a racially-motivated attack in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993. Acourt, who always denied involvement in the murder and was never charged, fled to Spain hidden in the back of a car in 2016 after being tipped off that he was wanted as a ringleader of the cannabis trafficking gang.
He spent over two years on the run in Barcelona under the alias Simon Alfonzo after his escape before being extradited back to the UK. Acourt was finally jailed for years in 2018 for masterminding a two-year £3m drugs plot. He was released from prison in November 2022 after serving half his sentence.
But he was sent back to jail in October after breaching a serious criminal behaviour order by failing to tell police he was driving a white transit van on 12 separate occasions between 11 August and 21 October. Acourt pleaded guilty to the offences, along with driving without insurance at Westminster Magistrates' Court. He was jailed for six months and had six points put on his licence last month, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed.
The offences related to an incident in Park Way, in Hounslow, west London, the Met Police said. According to court documents seen by Sky News, he was handed a custodial sentence "because the defendant has a flagrant disregard for court orders". In January 2021, Acourt was ordered to pay back £90,000 or have another year added to his jail sentence.
He was later ordered to pay back £500 a month, after City of London magistrates court heard Acourt, who has two children, was a self-employed courier earning £3,600 a month, with outgoings of around £2,700. Prosecutor Shahida Parveen said Acourt had made three £500 payments, but now owed a total of £102,329 with interest. Acourt's brother Neil, who was also arrested over Stephen's murder, was jailed for six years over the same drugs plot. Gary Dobson and David Norris, were finally convicted of budding architect Stephen's killing in 2011. Former suspect Luke Knight is still living near Eltham.