Notorious criminal Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren has been arrested at the home he shares with a prison officer who was jailed for having an affair with him behind bars.
The Liverpool-born gangster who has served multiple jail sentences was arrested just before 6am yesterday (Wednesday) at the home of Stephanie Smithwhite, 42, in Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside.
He is being quizzed by police on suspicion of committing numerous breaches of a Serious Crime Prevention Order relating to the alleged unauthorised use of mobile phones, vehicles, bank accounts and travel.
The order came into force after his release from prison in November 2022 for drug trafficking offences.
Smithwhite was jailed for two years in February 2020 at Durham Crown Court after she admitted two counts of misconduct in a public office.
The first count related to her sexual relationship with Warren, 60, which is said to have lasted between June and December 2018 when he was serving time at top security HMP Frankland near Durham.
The second count related to her not reporting that she knew he had access to a smuggled phone which is understood to have been a tiny so-called ‘prison phone’ little bigger than a £2 coin.
Smithwhite denied cutting a hole in the trousers of her prison uniform for a sexual purpose, but the sentencing judge said it was hard to imagine why else it was there.
The court heard she ‘fell in love with the wrong man in the wrong situation’ and exchanged hundreds of sexually explicit love letters with the infamous drug baron.
At his request she sent him a picture of herself and admitted kissing him and performing sex acts in his cell, a prison kitchen and a laundry room.
In interview, Smithwhite admitted other sexual encounters.
Warren is thought to have moved in to Smithwhite’s semi-detached home in a residential street in in Boldon Colliery.
Warren was arrested in an operation involving Merseyside Police and the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU).
Breach of a serious crime prevention order is a criminal offence subject to a maximum sentence of five years, an unlimited fine, or both.
The Toxteth native who was once dubbed ‘Target One’ by Interpol had the order imposed when he was released from the maximum security HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire.
He was made subject to a strict raft of restrictions including a ban from instant messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, being in possession of more than £1,000 in cash, giving police a day’s notice if he wants to use a friend’s car and a ban on travel outside of England and Wales without giving seven days notice to police.
Alison Abbott, from the NCA’s Lifetime Management of Offenders Team, said today: ‘These court orders are vital tools for preventing and deterring future offending. Once criminals come onto our radar, they never leave, and the NCA will take action over breaches.’
Warren, who was nicknamed ‘Cocky’ for his disdain of authority, is thought to have been moved to HMP Whitemoor after his affair with Smithwhite was discovered.
Duram Crown Court heard when she was sentenced how she was found to have a tattoo of a rose with the name ‘Curtis’ next to it, which she said she had done in December 2018.
She was also found to be in possession of a Zanco ‘prison phone’ of the kind often smuggled into jails – though she denied she intended to take it in for Warren’s use.
The note was recovered and further searches were carried out including of her car where two mobile phones were found – one black and one white Samsung.
Smithwhite was an officer at HMP Frankland, near Durham, where Warren was serving time.
She was jailed for two years in 2020 at Durham Crown Court for misconduct in public office.
