Drug baron Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren pictured for first time since jail release

15 December 2023 , 18:57

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Curtis Warren outside Liverpool Magistrates court (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Drug baron Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren has been pictured for the first time since being released from jail, due to appearing in court yet again.

The narcotics kingpin, 60, has now been charged with breaching a serious crime prevention order. Warren was asked to take his hands out of his pockets after confirming his name and date of birth in court.

Wearing a black Nike jacket and matching tracksuit bottoms with trainers, the Liverpool dealer looked relaxed as he chatted on a mobile phone after leaving the hearing at the city’s magistrates court yesterday.

The first offence is alleged to have occurred within hours of him being freed from a maximum security jail last November – after spending most of the past 25 years in jail.

He is alleged to have applied for a passport without notifying the relevant authorities, breaching the SCPO. Charges reveal he is accused of travelling abroad for four days in May. Warren is also said to have failed to notify the National Crime Agency that he had set up a company or reveal the “true nature of his business”.

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Warren has spent most of the last 25 years in jail (PA)

He is further accused of failing to reveal he had more than £1,000; that he had access to a number of vehicles; had moved out of his registered address; had used credit cards and changed his mobile phone.

His address, given on the court list as a property in Widnes, Cheshire, was not read out in court. Anthony Barraclough, defending Warren, said no indication of pleas would be given.

District Judge Paul Healey sent the case to Liverpool crown court. He said of the fresh charges Warren faces: “My view is it is too serious to be dealt with in the magistrates’ court. It is going to be sent to Liverpool crown court for trial.”

Warren was arrested at the home of his partner, Stephanie Smithwhite, in Boldon Colliery, Tyne and Wear.

In 2020, former prison officer Smithwhite, 44, was jailed for two years over her relationship with Warren at HMP Frankland, where she worked and he was imprisoned.

Warren, who once featured on the Sunday Times Rich List and was wanted by Interpol, was bailed to appear at a plea hearing next month.

Tom Pettifor