Quote Telegraph. The violent gang The Acourts were considered prime suspects because they were the leaders of the gang. There were the two who referred to themselves as âThe Kraysâ, as suggested in one of the notes. Between them they were alleged to have taken part in a handful of other attacks, some of which involved Dobson and Norris, and many of which happened in the same area where Stephen was murdered. In May 2001 Norris and Neil Acourt were involved in a racist attack on a black off duty police officer. The pair drove at PC Gareth Reid, shouted n***** and threw a drink at him. They were both jailed for 18 months in June 2002. But their violence preceded that. In 1991 Lee Pearson was stabbed outside a kebab shop in Well Hall Road, the same street Stephen was killed. The Acourts were the policeâs main suspects, but Mr Pearson refused to sign a statement implicating them. In July 1992 an Asian boy, Rohit Duggal, was stabbed to death by Peter Thompson, again on Well Hall Road. Thompson was named as a member of the Acourtsâ gang in the anonymous calls to the police the day after Stephenâs death. In November 1992 a black youth named Kevin London said that Gary Dobson threatened him with a knife after challenging him over the fact he had a white girlfriend. Dobson denied it and no charges were brought. Norris and Jamie Acourt were also suspects in the stabbing of Darren Witham in Chislehurst in 1992. Both were charged, but the charges were later dropped. A month before Stephenâs death, in March 1993, David Norris is alleged to stabbed a man named Stacey Benefield with a miniature sword after he tried to calm an argument Norris had with a friend of his. Norris and Neil Acourt were suspected by police of being involved in the attack. Only Norris stood trial and was acquitted. The same month Gurdeep Banghal, 22 was stabbed by a white youth while working in a Wimpy restaurant in Eltham. His attacker is said to have called him a âP*** b******â. Information received by the police suggested those responsible for the Lawrence murder were also responsible for the stabbing of Mr Banghal. However the attack appears to be referenced in the secret recordings made by police of the gang in Dobsonâs flat in December 1994. Relaying the story, Dobson says: âHe said âThe f****** black b****** I am going to kill himâ. I cracked up laughing. I went âwhat black geezer?â. He went âThe Wimpy one, the f****** black n***** c***, f****** black b******. I went âWhat, the P***?â. The jury was also told that, when interviewed by police in 1993, Gary Dobson named the Acourts as his best friends and also mentioned Luke Knight. He also told police he associated with youths named Charlie Martin and Danny Caetano. What the jury did not hear was how the pair were not around the night Stephen Lawrence was killed because they were awaiting trial for a knife attack on a rival gang member who according to the prosecution they had quite literally tried to skin alive. A surgeon said he had never seen such wounds and the pair were convicted. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ry-Dobson-and-David-Norriss-violent-past.html
Should the Telegraph be publishing hearsay? They may well have done all of the above but without a conviction they are not guilty of it. Bit worrying that the media should publish this. Trial by media is very dangerous territory.
Happens all the time Gambol. Guilty and named before being found innocent. And mud sticks. It's pathetic to be honest.
Everything in the article is a matter for public record so there's no problem there. And Dobson and Norris have already been convicted so it will have no impact.