Drug baron John Anslow launches bid for freedom
Drug baron John Anslow, once Britain's most wanted man, is bidding for freedom after launching an appeal against his conviction for escaping from prison, it can be revealed today.
The Tipton criminal admitted conspiring to escape after being dramatically and violently sprung from a prison van travelling to court.
He is launching a bid against the conviction on the grounds that the way officers later brought him back from Cyprus - to where he had fled - was unlawful.
Anslow is also appealing against his seven-year sentence for the crime and is also planning to appeal against a 22-year sentence and conviction for a drugs conspiracy, according to his father.
The 33-year-old, who has lodged a file with the Court of Appeal, is currently serving 29 years in Belmarsh Prison as a Triple Category A prisoner.
His father, also John, said his son was 'innocent' of being involved in drug dealing and was bidding to clear his name.
Anslow maintains that the way he was returned to the UK was unlawful - and that his subsequent escape conviction was therefore an abuse of process.
See also: John Anslow 'smuggled out of UK in metal box'
My son is a victim, not a drug baron
Revealed: John Anslow's life of lies and luxury on the run
Mr Anslow Senior said: "The way it happened was all wrong. They basically kidnapped him and took him from northern Cyprus to Turkey. The whole thing just wasn't right. And then he's been done for the drugs in his absence so he didn't even get to answer for himself. He wasn't there to defend himself."
There is no extradition treaty between the UK and northern Cyprus. Anslow sacked his lawyer after the drugs conviction, Mr Anslow Snr said.
Of pleading guilty to the conspiracy to escape conviction, he added: "Obviously he can't plead not guilty to escaping. But he didn't understand the implications. It's outrageous what they've done to him."
The Court of Appeal confirmed that Anslow was appealing against both his conviction and sentence for conspiracy to escape. A Proceeds of Crime Application hearing, in which Anslow could see his assets seized, has been postponed while the appeals are lodged.
Mr Anslow Snr has previously claimed the vast majority of his son's wealth came from elaborate gambling and that he was just a minnow in the drugs trade.
A member of prison staff has been sacked and others disciplined for failing to detect a mobile phone Anslow had secreted in an intimate part of his anatomy to help plot his escape.
In total, six people have been jailed for their part in the plan to spring the drugs baron from the prison van in January 2012.
