THE prime suspects in the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence are back under the spotlight as detectives appeal for people to come forward to eliminate their DNA from the forensic investigation.

One of the five men previously accused of the unsolved 1993 murder, Jamie Acourt, is believed to live in the Sidcup area.

The other four suspects David Norris, Luke Knight, Gary Dobson and Jamie’s brother Neil also live in south east London.

All five have consistently denied the allegations made against them.

But surveillance recordings of the group by police a year after the brutal killing in Eltham revealed their racist attitudes at the time.

Norris, the son of convicted drug dealer Clifford Norris from Bromley, was overheard saying: "If I was going to kill myself do you know what I’d do? I’d go and kill every black ..., every paki, every copper, every mug that I know."

He added: "I’d go down to Catford and places like that I‘m telling you now with two sub-machine guns and I’m telling you I’d take one of them, skin the black...alive mate, torture him, set him alight...I’d blow their two legs and arms off and say go on, you can swim home now."

Neil Acourt said that all black people should be "chopped up" and "left with nothing but stumps."

The public inquiry into Stephen’s death concluded that while the tapes did not prove the men’s guilt in relation to that case, it did show that "the suspects were then and certainly before that date infected and invaded by gross and revolting racism."

Jamie Acourt was not under surveillance at the time of the second police inquiry because he was in custody, charged with another offence involving violence in a night club, the inquiry report said.

The murder case against him and Norris was dropped before it reached court while the other three were acquitted by a jury in 1996.

But the abolition of the double jeopardy rule in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry means that all five could still stand trial if significant new evidence comes to light.

The law had previously prohibited police from prosecuting any person twice for the same crime.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the investigation into the death of Stephen Lawrence was reviewed regularly as with all unsolved murders.

He said: "An opportunity to see if the forensic work can be re-visited in the light of new technology is standard practice and is being adopted in the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

"As the result of a forensic opportunity coming to light new DNA samples are being taken from individuals who may have come into contact with Stephen at the time, or prior to his death, such as his family, police officers, ambulance and medical staff. The samples will be used to eliminate their DNA."

The spokesman added: "Since 1994 when Stephen was murdered we recognise that those that came into contact with him at the time may well now live at different addresses. We would urge anyone who came into contact with Stephen at the time or his death or immediately prior to contact the incident room on 020 7230 5117 with their current contact details so that they can assist police in eliminating their DNA. We are not able to go into further details about this development at this stage for operational reasons."