30 rules Curtis Warren must obey after walking free from court

Notorious Liverpool drug trafficker Curtis Warren was given a suspended sentence this week after admitting a number of breaches of his serious crime prevention order (SCPO). Warren, 61, was released from Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire in November 2022 after serving a 13-year sentence for drug smuggling offences.

Upon his release he became subject to a SCPO, which placed limits on his use of phones, email accounts and vehicle for five years. Restrictions were also imposed on his financial arrangements and travel. However, Warren was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) at a house in South Tyneside in July 2023 on suspicion of multiple breaches of his order.

This included operating bank accounts and using a vehicle which he hadn’t declared to the NCA, as well as failing to notify the Agency of travel to Spain and a change of address. Following his arrest officers also found a mobile phone in his possession that he hadn’t declared, and £1,500 in cash, in excess of what he was allowed to possess as per the order.

He was charged with 11 counts of breaching the order the following November and a further seven charges were added in February this year. At a hearing on Tuesday, August 27 at Liverpool Crown Court Warren admitted six breaches of the SCPO which related to his use of communications devices, finances, income, vehicles, travel and place of residence. The remaining charges against him were left on file. He was sentenced to a 14-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.

Warren was once dubbed 'Target One' by Interpol. The Toxteth-born man, nicknamed 'Cocky', who was once included in the Sunday Times rich list with a £200m fortune, was jailed in Holland back in 1996 for a £125m cocaine importation scheme. While in prison, Warren killed fellow prisoner Cemal Guclu by kicking him in the head after the Turkish convicted killer attacked him in the prison yard. Warren was convicted of manslaughter for using "excessive violence" and was handed an extra four years.

Warren was briefly a free man upon his release in 2007 and returned to the UK, but after only five weeks he was arrested over a plot to smuggle cannabis worth £1m into Jersey. He later had 10 years added onto his sentence for failing to pay back £198m as part of a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order.

Despite the suspended sentence, Warren will still be subjected to the orders until November 20 2027. Any further breaches of the order will likely see Warren returned to prison. The orders currently imposed on Warren are:

• Restriction & Notification of Communications Devices

• Restriction and Notification of Email Accounts

• Prohibition on the use of any Instant Messaging Service

• Notification of Online User Names or Identities

• Restriction on Internet Access

• Prohibition on the Use of Public or non-authorised Communication Facilities

• Restriction on Possession of Cash

• Restriction on Bank Accounts and Financial Instruments

• Restriction and Notification of Foreign Assets

• Restriction and Notification of Money Transfers

• Restriction and Notification of Borrowing

• Restriction on Virtual Currency Accounts

• Restriction on e-money

• Prohibition on the use of Virtual Payment Systems

• Prohibition of the Use of Trusts

• Shares

• Financial Reporting

• Notification of Business Interests

• Notification of Income

• Notification of Acquisition of a New Passport or Identification Card

• Prohibition on Use of Alias

• Restriction on the Ownership and Use of Vehicles

• Notification of Travel outside England and Wales

• Notification of Premises

• Notification of commercial imports and exports

• Notification of Postal Services

• Prohibition on the Possession and Use of Anti-Surveillance Equipment

• Restrictions in relation to firearms

• Prohibition on Possession and Use of Equipment relating to Police Airwaves

• Notification of changes related to the Order

Following Warren's suspended sentence, head of the NCA’s prisons and lifetime management unit Alison Abbott said: "Curtis Warren treated his order with contempt, breaching it within days of his release from prison, and going on to breach it multiple times. Serious Crime Prevention Orders are a powerful tool to help prevent those convicted of serious offences continue their criminality when they come out of prison.

"This case should serve as a warning to others. As we did with Warren, we will actively monitor all those who are subject to such orders, and they will stay on our radar even after they are released from jail."