Liverpool-born gangster Curtis Warren, thought to be one of Britain's richest criminals, is due to appeal against a conviction

Liverpool-born gangster Curtis Warren, thought to be one of Britain's richest criminals, is due to appeal against a conviction for plotting to smuggle £1 million worth of cannabis.Warren, known by his nickname "Cocky", was once Interpol's most wanted man. He is the only drug dealer to have appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List when, in 1997, he was listed as a "property developer" worth £40 million
Warren, 46, started a 13-year jail term in December after he and five others were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to import the drugs from mainland Europe to Jersey in the Channel Islands.The plot, the trial heard, would have seen 397lb (180kg) of cannabis bought in Amsterdam and driven back in a hire car through Belgium and France to the Normandy coast. It was then to be picked up by boat and smuggled on to the island where it was to be sold on the streets at massive profit.But when Warren's co-accused failed to come up with the cash, the plan fell apart. Police swooped to arrest the conspirators in July 2007 before the deal could be done.During the trial the court heard secret recordings made by police bugs fitted in the hire car and in public phone boxes around the island's capital St Helier.John Welsh, 43, originally from Liverpool, was jailed for 12 years; James O'Brien, 45, from Glasgow, got 10 years; Jason Woodward, 22, from Kent, and Jersey men Paul Hunt, 27 and Oliver Lucas, 23, were each handed five-year terms.All six men are appealing against their convictions and sentence at a two-day hearing in St Helier before Dame Heather Steel

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