My finacee's name is Curt Deas and he is from Liverpool. He was working in Accra, Ghana. I have received an email from someone claiming to be a lawyer there, and that my finacee has been arrested.

This may sounds rude, but have you actually met this person.
SO far your story echo a classic Ghana romance scam.

This does sound like a scam to get money from you, but let me ask if this lawyer gave you details as to where he was arrested, and where he is held? A simple phone call to authorities will shed some light on this.In addition you can always check the lawyers credentials for yourself against the local data base, but be very aware of how good scammers are at creating bogus websites with bogus information.

If he is from Liverpool, then have you not checked at the embassy to verify anything he has told you? It just follows that anything from the romance scam capital of the world be checked thoroughly, and rechecked. Have you sent money before? How much is he asking for? For what?