Curtis Warren sentenced to 13 years

04 December 2009

Drugs baron Curtis Warren, thought to be one of Britain's richest criminals, was jailed for 13 years on Thursday (03 December 2009).

Warren, 46, and five members of his gang, was convicted in October of a plot to smuggle cannabis worth £1million into Jersey, following a joint operation by SOCA and the States of Jersey Police.

The former Liverpool street dealer, who became Interpol's most wanted man, appeared by video link from Belmarsh Prison in south east London for his sentencing at the Royal Court in St Helier.

Warren showed no reaction as Judge Sir Richard Tucker passed sentence.

The judge said: "We do not sentence him because of his record or notoriety.

"Nevertheless he has been shown to be the mastermind behind the planned importation."

Turning to Warren, Sir Richard added: "After being released from prison in Holland it was a very short space of time before you embarked on this drug trafficking enterprise.

"It was you who provided the contacts in Holland and the source of supply."

The judge added that it ought to be known that Jersey courts impose severe sentences for drugs offences.

Fellow gang member John Welsh, 43, originally from Liverpool, who was described in the trial as the "willing purchaser" of the drugs, was sentenced to 12 years.

James O'Brien, 45, from Glasgow, received a 10-year sentence for agreeing to pilot the boat which the smugglers planned to use.

Jason Woodward, 22, of Dartford, Kent, Paul Hunt, 27, and Oliver Lucas, 23, both from St Helier, Jersey, who were also investors in the scheme, received five-year terms.

All six were found guilty of conspiracy to import a controlled drug by a unanimous jury of six men and five women following a three-week trial in the Channel Islands earlier this year.

David Warcup, Acting Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police, said: "The sentencing sends out a message that attempts to import drugs into Jersey will not be tolerated.

"As this case has shown, and today's sentences, drugs do not need to be recovered for people involved in this trade to be dealt with all the way through the criminal justice system."