Advertisement

Former suspect in Stephen Lawrence case among UK's Most Wanted

A man who was once a suspect in the Stephen Lawrence murder has been named on a new Most Wanted list for alleged drug-dealing offences.

It is alleged 40-year-old Jamie Acourt was part of a cannabis-dealing gang between January 2014 and February 2016.

He is among a number of suspects thought to be on the run in Spain.

Mr Acourt, from southeast London, was never charged in connection with the racist murder of 18-year-old Mr Lawence in 1993.

Two others - David Norris and Gary Dobson - were convicted and are serving life sentences.

The 10 Most Wanted suspects' photographs will be printed on airline boarding passes and plastered on buses along the Costa Del Sol as half-term holidaymakers are asked to join expats and locals in the hunt for the fugitives from British justice.

It will mark the tenth anniversary of Most Wanted appeals in Spain, where 76 out of 86 identified suspects have been captured and extradited to face UK courts.

Sarah Panitzke, 42, from York, laundered £1 billion in a VAT fraud and should be doing eight years in a British jail, but fled during her trial and was convicted and sentenced in her absence.

Mark Acklom, 43, is a serial conman who was in a Spanish jail when police in Bath were told that three years earlier he had allegedly romanced and fleeced divorcee Carolyn Woods, 55, of her £850,000 life savings.

By the time detectives had obtained a European arrest warrant for him, Acklom had been freed from jail in Murcia and disappeared.

The other main suspect is Shane O'Brien, 28, wanted in connection with the savage and unprovoked murder of a young man in a North London wine bar. There is a £20,000 reward on offer for information.

All ten suspects are subject to a European arrest warrant (EAW), which effectively guarantees that any fugitive who is captured will be extradited.

But Brexit will mean an end to the system, so the UK government will have to negotiate bi-lateral extradition treaties with each European country.

If it can't do that, Brexit could herald a return to the Costa del Crime days of the 1980s and 90s, when fugitives lived in Spain away from the clutches of British detectives and returned to face the music only if and when they chose to.

Steve Reynolds, from the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: "We don't want to take a step backwards and if we didn't have EAWs we would encourage the government to negotiate with our European partners to create a system that has the same characteristics."

The Most Wanted appeal is being launched in Torremolinos in Southern Spain as a joint venture between the NCA and the Crimestoppers charity.

Britain's ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, reassured anyone who may be concerned about giving information.

"In all the years that this operation has been going on - 10 years of success - all these calls have been anonymous and there's never been a leak out," Mr Manley told Sky News.

"You can speak in complete safety to Crimestoppers and get this information to us."

There are two freephone numbers on which people can talk anonymously to operators.

Those in Spain, where a translation service is available, should ring 900 555 111.

The number in the UK is 0800 555 111.