Jewish cocaine kingpin who ran £34million East End drugs empire is ordered to pay back £4,500 damages he won because he wasn't given kosher food in jail
- Frederick Colverson has been ordered to pay back in £4,500 in damages he won
- Colverson, 62, was jailed for 25 years following Suffolk's biggest drugs haul
- The East End crook was awarded £4,500 after he didn't receive kosher food
- But he was told by a judge to hand back the cash as part of his criminal profits
East End crook Frederick Colverson was jailed for 25 years after he was snared in Suffolk's biggest ever drugs haul
A £34M London drugs lord has been ordered to pay back £4,500 damages he won because he wasn't given kosher food in jail.
Frederick Colverson, 62, was caged for 25 years in August 2012 after a police raid netted Suffolk's biggest ever drugs haul - almost 400lbs of high-grade cocaine.
The Jewish East End crook was awarded £4,500 compensation after prison staff failed to provide him with special kosher food behind bars.
But Colverson has been told by a judge to hand the cash back as part of paying back his vast criminal profits.
The prisoner suffers from colitis and has had half his liver removed.
The Ministry of Justice made the settlement after Colverson spent time in the prison hospital as a result of his dietary requirements not being met, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
His solicitor David Lister told the court prison authorities knew that his client's diet needed to be dealt with cautiously.
Colverson and Terrance and pair were locked up after 383lbs (174kg) of cocaine was found in imported pineapple crates when police swooped on an industrial unit in Brandon, west Suffolk
The massive cache of illegal drugs had come through Felixstowe Docks, the UK's biggest container port
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Company director Smith (left), of Thetford, Norfolk, admitted conspiring to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 20 years. Right: Colverson pictured leaving court in 2012
He said there could be a serious effect on his health if it was not followed.
'It's not just about him being deprived of his rights as an adherent to Judaism,' said Mr Lister, who argued it would be unjust to deprive Colverson of the money.
The court heard that after the claim was settled a restraint order was made on the money pending Thursday's hearing.
And Judge John Devaux has now granted an application by the Crown Prosecution Service to add the £4,500 sum to an earlier £377,000 confiscation order.
Colverson, of Tower Hamlets, east London, businessman Terance Smith, now 63, were jailed for a total of 45 years.
The pair were locked up after 383lbs of cocaine was found in imported pineapple crates when police swooped on an industrial unit in Brandon, west Suffolk.
The massive cache had come through Felixstowe Docks, the UK's biggest container port.
The Class A drugs, hidden in the bottom of boxes of pineapples, were worth a staggering £34m, Ipswich Crown Court heard at the criminals' trial in 2012.
The industrial estate unit in Brandon, Suffolk, where police found the consignment of pineapples containing hidden cocaine worth £34million
A proceeds of crime confiscation hearing in relation to Colverson in 2015 heard he had made £2,618,594 from his crimes and his realisable assets were £407,683.
A confiscation order was made for that amount.
But last December the figure was cut to £377,000 after the court was told vehicles belonging to Colverson had failed to reach their assessed value.
Colverson denied conspiring to supply Class A drugs but was convicted.
Company director Smith, of Thetford, Norfolk, admitted conspiring to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 20 years.
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