Former Stephen Lawrence murder suspect Jamie Acourt was remanded in custody today for his alleged involvement in a £4million cannabis dealing plot.
The 42-year-old was arrested by armed officers as he left the Metropolitan Sagrada Familia hotel gym in Barcelona last month.
He was held as part of a joint operation between Spanish police, the Met and the National Crime Agency.
Jamie Acourt, pictured after his arrest in Spain, appeared in a court in London today on drugs charges
Acourt is said to have been ‘at the head’ of a conspiracy to shift around four tonnes of cannabis
Acourt was charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis shortly after landing in the UK from Barcelona yesterday.
Wearing a black t-shirt and jeans with his hair tied back in a bun, the defendant appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court today for a five-minute hearing.
He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and was not arraigned on the sole charge of conspiring to supply class B drugs between 2014 and 2016.
Prosecutor Henry Fitch said: ‘The charge sheet reads that over a period of 25 months there was a conspiracy to supply cannabis of a quantity in excess of three to four tonnes which involved 34 to 35 trips abroad.’
Acourt was a suspect in the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence (pictured) in 1993. He has always denied involvement
Mr Fitch said Acourt is alleged to have been ‘at the head of the conspiracy’.
Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot told him: ‘I am sending this matter to Kingston Crown Court and your first appearance there will be on 5 July.’
Acourt was among five men named as suspects after Stephen Lawrence was knifed to death in a racist attack at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.
He has always denied any involvement in the killing.
Acourt, from south London, was remanded in custody ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing at Kingston Crown Court on 5 July.
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