Wednesday 23 November 2022 03:59 PM How drug lord Curtis Warren had Gladiators star Warrior among army of informants trends now

Wednesday 23 November 2022 03:59 PM How drug lord Curtis Warren had Gladiators star Warrior among army of informants trends now
Wednesday 23 November 2022 03:59 PM How drug lord Curtis Warren had Gladiators star Warrior among army of informants trends now

Wednesday 23 November 2022 03:59 PM How drug lord Curtis Warren had Gladiators star Warrior among army of informants trends now

Drugs kingpin Curtis 'Cocky' Warren - who has been freed from a maximum security prison - once had Gladiators star Warrior as one of his army of informants.

Notorious Warren, who built up a £200 million cocaine empire and was dubbed 'Britain's Pablo Escobar', used the TV tough guy to get information on an attempted murder case involving his brother-in-law.

Musclebound Warrior – real name Mike Ahearne – was friends with a bent detective in Merseyside Police who was paid by Warren to leak sensitive information.

Ahearne had moved in with corrupt cop DCI Elmore Davies and was providing details to Warren about the prosecution of Philip Glennon Junior who was arrested after shooting at a bouncer outside the Venue nightclub in Liverpool in 1996.

However, the authorities were eventually alerted to the detective's activities and his house was bugged by undercover officers.

In one taped conversation, subsequently played in court, Davies was heard telling the former TV star: 'This is important. Curtis's phone in prison is being recorded. His cell is bugged. There is an undercover policeman in prison with him.

'Curtis's wife's phone's being tapped. This is confidential police information. Dutch police have also tapped the phone of someone Curtis has spoken to.

'There's a suggestion he [Warren] is trying to bribe witnesses. That's top f**king secret. It can only come from one place and that's me. He won't get it from anybody else.

'I have got it from the DCI dealing with it and it's top, top secret.'

Drugs kingpin Curtis 'Cocky' Warren (above) - who has been freed from a maximum security prison - once had Gladiators star Warrior (right) as one of his army of informants

Gladiator Mike Ahearne is seen

Drugs kingpin Curtis 'Cocky' Warren (left) - who has been freed from a maximum security prison - once had Gladiators star Warrior (right) as one of his army of informants 

Musclebound Warrior – real name Mike Ahearne – was friends with a bent detective in Merseyside Police who was paid by Warren to leak sensitive information

Musclebound Warrior – real name Mike Ahearne – was friends with a bent detective in Merseyside Police who was paid by Warren to leak sensitive information 

Davies was promised £10,000 for the information but after his plan was foiled he was jailed for five years in 1997. 

Ahearne – who now runs a gym in Birkenhead – was sentenced to 15-months in prison, although was released after six.

The extraordinary link between one of Britain's best loved Gladiators stars and one of the country's most notorious criminals was revealed in BBC podcast Gangster: The Story of Curtis Warren.

The six part series, uploaded in the summer, also revealed how Warren stuffed a million pounds in several envelopes and buried them all over Liverpool so he would have plenty of cash after leaving prison.

However, paper £20 and £50 notes ceased to be legal tender in September this year, whilst the paper £10 note was withdrawn from circulation in March 2018. 

It means that, for it to be usable, Warren's money would need to be taken to a bank and exchanged for the plastic polymer notes that replaced the paper ones.  

Warren, 59, was released from Whitemoor jail in Cambridgeshire yesterday after being jailed in 2009 for 13 years over a £1million cannabis smuggling plot.

Notorious Warren, who built up a £200 million cocaine empire and was dubbed 'Britain's Pablo Escobar' used the TV tough guy to get information on an attempted murder case involving his brother-in-law. Above: Warren in 1992

Notorious Warren, who built up a £200 million cocaine empire and was dubbed 'Britain's Pablo Escobar' used the TV tough guy to get information on an attempted murder case involving his brother-in-law. Above: Warren in 1992

According to reports he will now be subject to stringent restrictions including being prohibited from using social media apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook and being ordered to give police officers 24 hours' notice before stepping into any friend's car.

Warren

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