Lawrence suspects deny racial attack

Two of the men suspected of murdering the black teenager, Stephen Lawrence, carried out a racist attack on an off-duty policeman by driving a car at him while shouting "nigger", a court heard yesterday.

David Norris, 25, is accused of hurling the racial abuse at Detective Constable Gareth Reid. His co-defendant Neil Acourt, 27, is said to have driven a car at the officer who was standing on a traffic island.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London heard that Norris threw a container of McDonald's drink at DC Reid as Acourt laughed uncontrollably before the pair sped off. The incident happened in May last year as DC Reid, a police officer for 12 years, was making his way home – out of uniform – from a railway station in Eltham, south-east London.

Ian Darling, prosecuting, told the court Norris and Acourt, driven by racial intolerance, had intended to harrass the officer by abusing and threatening him. Mr Darling said: "What motivated them was a hostility directed towards Gareth Reid, motivated by one reason and one reason alone, his colour." The court heard the officer had recognised Acourt, from nearby Greenwich, after he heard shouting as he crossed a road to a bus stop and looked to see the two defendants in their car.

Both Acourt and Norris, from Chislehurst, Kent, were among five men named as suspects in the murder of Stephen Lawrence, who was killed at a bus stop in Eltham in April 1993.

Mr Darling said the details of that case should not concern the jury beyond the fact the media attention surrounding the killing had enabled DC Reid to recognise the accused.

As the officer looked at Acourt and Norris, who both deny racially aggravated harassment, he noticed they were staring at him and shouting while their red Renault Clio was stopped at traffic lights.

When the car started moving, it allegedly swerved towards the traffic island where DC Reid was standing as Norris held his arm out gripping the drinks container, the court was told.

Mr Darling said: "At that point, [Reid] was becoming extremely alarmed and felt trapped because the car suddenly veered towards where he was standing and he believed it was going to hit him.

"Mr Norris and Mr Acourt were still laughing. Then he heard, coming from the car, the word 'nigger' and when he heard that, Mr Reid froze."

The half-filled drink container was allegedly flicked from the car window at the policeman but landed three feet short as the car sped off.

Although Acourt was laughing while Norris allegedly shouted the racist insult, the pair acted in a joint enterprise to intimidate their victim, Mr Darling added. DC Reid took the car registration number, leading to Mr Norris being stopped the following day.

The case continues.