An Eltham drug lord should repay almost £1million he reaped from a lucrative cannabis scheme, a court has heard.

Neil Acourt, 42, was jailed for six years and three months last February for conspiracy to supply Class B drugs as part of a criminal network.

He was said to have been the "man at the top" of a two-year plot which involved dozens of 600-mile round trips from London to the South Shields area, ferrying drugs up and taking cash back, worth more than £4 million altogether.

Also known as Neil Stuart, the father of one was due to appear at Kingston Crown Court today (April 12) for a confiscation hearing.

Before his arrival, prosecutor Sarah Przybylska told the court that Acourt and two of his co-defendants were liable for the estimated £960,000 value of the plot and should each have to pay that full amount.

She said: "This was a two-year conspiracy to supply cannabis.

"Two hundred kilos were seized across two shipments, there were 37 journeys during the course of this conspiracy that was movement between London and South Shields that the prosecution say was for the movement of drugs and money."

The defence accepted that there "must have been" more than 200 kilos of cannabis moved during this time, she added.

She said: “The proposed figure now is 12 shipments over the course of two years, 80 kilos per shipment, giving a total of 960 kilos at £1,000 per kilo, resulting in a value of £960,000.”

Lawyers for the defendants suggested the figure was speculation and asked Judge Susan Tapping to make a lower valuation.

Acourt's childhood friend, James Botton, 46, of Greenwich, and father-in-law Jack Vose, 64, of Bexley, were each jailed for four years and nine months over the plot.

Both were said to currently have £1 to their names and should be ordered to pay £960,000 each.

Daniel Thompson, 30, of South Shields, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for four years and two months.

It was agreed he should repay 11 months’ worth of the two-year conspiracy, matching the time of his involvement, when the figure is eventually settled. He was said to have £25,457.97 to his name.

All previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B drug between January 2014 and February 2016.