CURTIS WARREN was last night starting a 13-year jail term for masterminding a £1m cannabis smuggling plot.

The sentence, only a year less than the maximum tariff, was passed down by former High Court judge Sir Richard Tucker at Jersey’s Royal Court yesterday.

Toxteth-born Warren was not in court to hear his sentence. Instead, events were relayed to him via videolink to a room at top security HMP Belmarsh.

Dressed in a polo shirt and Adidas tracksuit bottoms, Warren showed absolutely no interest while the cases were being put to the court, preferring to read a book.

When the sentence was passed, he gave only a smirk before leaving the room.

Warren was moved to Belmarsh amid police fears of a plot to spring him from Jersey’s cliff-top prison.

In October, “Cocky” and five others were convicted by a jury of scheming to import up to £1m of cannabis from mainland Europe to Jersey.

It was alleged Warren used his underworld contacts in Holland to set up the deal for longtime Liverpool-born friend John Welsh, a drug dealer who has lived on Jersey for more than 20 years.

Sentencing Warren, Judge Tucker 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, he provided contacts in Holland and was the source of supply.

“We recognise he has been in prison for a long time, but regret to note that very shortly after being released he embarked on another very substantial drug trafficking enterprise.”

Those acting for Warren suggested he was too big a criminal to get involved in such a “laughable and hopeless” plot.

Advocate Stephen Baker, Warren’s counsel, laid bare his criminal past before the jury and pointed the finger at the authorities for being out to “get” his client.