'Brit Pablo Escobar' to be freed but banned from using WhatsApp and Bitcoin
A criminal dubbed 'Britain's Pablo Escobar' is soon to be freed - under a set of strict conditions.
Curtis Warren, from Toxteth, Liverpool, has spent much of his life behind bars but is due to be released next month.
Upon his release, the 59-year-old will be banned from using WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, as well as holding cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.
He will also have to give a day's notice if he wants to get into a friend's car or van, and has to provide a National Crime Agency (NCA) handler with seven days' notice if he wants to travel to Scotland, according to The Times.
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The NCA obtained a Serious Crime Prevention Order against Warren, meaning it can monitor the assets of the man who used to be Interpol's most wanted.
Back in 2013, Labour leader Keir Starmer - who was director of public prosecutions at the time - said: "There are very real grounds to believe that, without this order being made, Curtis Warren would continue to be involved in serious crime."
Former bouncer Warren was the first gangster to be named on The Sunday Times Rich List, when he was reportedly bringing in £15 million a week.
His empire earned him an estimated £200 million fortune and he became Interpol's number one most wanted criminal, codenamed Target One.
He was most recently sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2009, after being found guilty of conspiracy to smuggle cannabis.
Back in 1999, while serving a 12-year sentence in the Netherlands after police seized an estimated £125 million worth of drugs and weapons, he kicked a fellow inmate to death.
Turkish prisoner Cemal Guclu - who was serving a 20-year sentence for murder and attempted murder - allegedly started hurling unprovoked abuse at Warren in the yard of maximum security Nieuw Vosseveld jail, before throwing a punch.
Warren subsequently pushed Guclu to the ground, before kicking him in the head three or four times, killing him.
Warren said he was acting in self-defence, but a judge ruled he used excessive force and he was sentenced to a further four years for manslaughter.
Stephen Mee, one of Warren's former associates who used to work as a drug smuggler for him, said he hoped he would stay out of trouble upon his release.
He said: "Over half of Curtis' life has been spent in prison. How much time do you want to waste?"
Jake Massey