Warren ‘not allowed’ to pay legal bill

Saturday 17th October 2009, 2:59PM BST.

Curtis Warren arriving at the Royal Court where the Assize trial was held

DRUGS baron Curtis Warren cannot pay his legal aid bills because the authorities will not let him use millions in frozen cash, it has been claimed.

The JEP revealed last week that the Liverpool gangster (46) and his drug-plotting gang have been on legal aid since their arrests in Jersey more than two years ago.

It is understood that the cost of defending the six accused, along with a massive security operation and a three-week trial, will run into millions of pounds and be paid from from the public purse.

Warren’s UK solicitor, Keith Dyson, has claimed that his client has tried to get the money to pay from £2m in cash and houses frozen by the authorities for more than a decade.

Mr Dyson said it was a scandal. ‘We applied to use the money but the authorities won’t let us use any of it, so we have ended up in a situation where Curtis wants to pay but isn’t allowed.’

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.