Stephen Lawrence
A leaf lies next to a plaque in memory of murder victim Stephen Lawrence, next to a bus stop in Eltham where he was killed in 1993 in south east London. Reuters

Stephen Lawrence's alleged killers, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were seen together in a photograph four days after his death, despite telling the police that they did not know each other, a court has heard.

A police surveillance officer photographed them together when they were coming out from the home of brothers Jamie and Neil Acourt on April 26 and 27, 1993, the Mirror has reported, citing court proceedings.

Dobson was arrested on May 7, 1993, and he told police the Acourts were among his close friends, but denied knowing Norris, the jury heard during the trial.

According to the newspaper, Dobson told the police that he had heard Norris' name mentioned a few times, but did not know him and never met him.

However, the photographs were clicked a day after an officer had gone to Dobson's home to inquire about the murder.

First officer DC Graham Cook, now retired, interacted with the accused during regular house-to-house investigation close to the murder site. Dobson was seen a bit nervous when questioned at his parents' house three days after the deadly stabbing.

Cook, who was asked to describe the behaviour of Dobson, then 17, said, "In my opinion he was nervous at the time."

Cook asked Dobson if he was present at the crime site on the night that Lawrence died. Dobson replied that he was at home studying all night.

"He arrived home from college at 5.30 p.m. that his mother and father were indoors at the time. He said that he did not know the victim, he had heard about the incident from the papers," Cook said.

The court heard that Norris, along with his mother, was presented at the Southwark police station later in May 1993.