CONVICTED drug dealer Curtis Warren has been given a suspended sentence after breaching a crime-prevention order put in place after he was released from prison following a failed plot to smuggle £1 million of cannabis into Jersey.
Warren (61) appeared in Liverpool Crown Court yesterday and admitted several charges of failing to comply with the order.
The court heard that Warren “doesn’t want to be in the public glare any more”, with his defence lawyer, Anthony Barraclough, arguing: “He wants peace and an end to it.”
Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC handed Warren a 14-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.
Warren was due to stand trial after being charged with 18 breaches of the order, but changed his pleas to six of the counts.
Paul Mitchell, prosecuting, said there had been “regular breaches” of the crime-prevention order, which was imposed in 2013 but came into effect in November 2022, when Warren was released from prison.
The court heard that the requirements included that Warren could only own one mobile phone, but Mr Mitchell said there was “substantial evidence” of him using other handsets.
Warren also breached requirements related to his finances by using a bank card in the name of John Harrison to pay for car insurance and for a speeding fine issued by Greater Manchester Police, as well as by opening bank accounts without notifying the National Crime Agency.
When he was arrested, £1,000 was found in a brown envelope in his kitchen, Mr Mitchell said.
Other requirements which were breached included using vehicles without telling the NCA and going abroad, to Alicante in Spain, without giving seven days’ notice to the agency.
He also failed to notify the authority that he was living at a flat in Birkenhead.
Mr Barraclough said his client wanted a “fresh start” and had been “doing his best” to comply with the order, which he described as “very, very draconian”.
Judge Menary said: “There are a lot of obligations which would require a pretty structured life. Whether the defendant’s capable of that, I don’t know. He’s plainly an intelligent man.”
When Judge Menary suggested Warren try to live a “simple life”, Mr Barraclough said: “Try and do that if you are Mr Curtis Frances Warren. He is followed everywhere. A simple thing would be to change his name, but there’s a restriction on that.”
Sentencing Warren, Judge Menary said: “The offences admitted by you, by pleas of guilty, do demonstrate a pretty comprehensive catalogue of failure to abide by the conditions of the order. Those breaches by you, I have no doubt, have seriously undermined the effectiveness of the order. On one view at least they do seem to indicate a decision by you not to take the order seriously.”
The judge said that because there was no evidence Warren was actively involved in criminal activity and because it was the first time he was being prosecuted for the breaches, he was willing to suspend the prison sentence.
The court heard that Warren had 31 previous convictions for 70 offences.
The NCA’s head of 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.”
