Posted by Updated / Monday, 21 Oct 2024 14:21
Crime Correspondent
The leader of the Kinahan organised crime group in the UK, Thomas Kavanagh directed Liam Byrne and Sean Kent to collect and stockpile firearms so he could act as an informant and get a lighter sentence for drug smuggling.
The plot was described at the sentence hearing in the Central Criminal Court in London as “a put up job” which failed when the French police “cracked” the secure criminal messaging system EncroChat.
Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, 57, his brother-in-law 43-year-old Liam Byrne, the head of the Kinahan gang in Dublin and 38-year-old Shaun Kent from Liverpool all pleaded guilty.
The court was also told today that while trying to buy the firearms, they were given a fake plastic gun by a criminal in Manchester.
Prosecuting counsel Tom Forster has been outlining the case against the UK and Irish leaders of the Kinahan organised crime group who are being sentenced for firearms offences.
He told the court that Kavanagh was serving three years for possession of a stun gun and was then convicted of smuggling multiple kilos of cocaine and cannabis.
He knew he was facing a “considerable period in prison” and his plan was to assemble as many weapons and as much ammunition as possible which he could get from criminals.
These would be hidden for Kavanagh to “reveal to the authorities” and “fool” them that his “assistance was genuine”, so he could “get a considerable discount” on his sentence.
The prosecution said Kavanagh along with Byrne and Kent had “orchestrated” this “put up job”.
Ultimately, however, “his plan came to nothing”.
The guns were planted and discovered buried in a hole in the ground in Newry, Co Down. Two holdalls were found with 11 firearms and ammunition.
The plot was discovered when the French authorities “cracked” the EncroChat criminal communications system and the messages between the conspirators involved in the plot were revealed.
The prosecution says they “provided a snapshot of criminal activity”.
Each Encrochat device had a user name handle, Kavanagh was referred to as “Pops” “Big Head” or “Our Mate”.
He directed the operation from behind bars and even though he had no EncroChat device he used Sean Kent as “a messenger boy” and relayed messages back and forth to him through “a middle man” who was another inmate.
Liam Byrne was known as “liquid burn” and “firelight” and was directed by Kavanagh to get as many guns and ammunition as possible.
He went to various sources including criminals and underworld gun dealers in Manchester and Liverpool.
Although the leader of the Byrne organised crime group, the court was told he was “subordinate” to his brother-in-law in the plot but still played “a leading role”. Both were “big cogs”.
The EncroChat messages read out in court today referred to getting as many guns and ammunition in as short a time as possible, putting them “big things in”, “stuff that makes a loud noise”, “putting a bag in a field”, “tools” in Ireland and the UK, “40 small ones here”, “sweets”, which refer to ammunition, a “scor”, which is a scorpion pistol, “ten big ones”, “we get as many as we can,” “two glocks,” “ten big yokes in two holdalls” “25 things in the flat”, “spinner” which is slang for a revolver, “pumps” for pump action shotguns and comments such as “which will add up nicely” during the plot.
The quantity and variety of weapons along with their dealings with various other criminals and associates were also discussed.
The figures discussed for payment of the weapons ranged from £14,000 to £86,000.
The court was also told there was “a considerable falling out” after they were given a plastic gun weighed down to make it seem real during their dealings with a criminal in Manchester who had agreed to sell them guns.
When the guns were gathered and planted, Kavanagh through his solicitor contacted the National Crime Agency and told them he wanted to provide information on a cache of weapons from the Netherlands to Ireland.
He provided them with instructions on where to find them and a map with “X marks the spot” the court was told.
Eleven guns and ammunition were subsequently found in two holdalls buried in Newry.
The plot however was uncovered and failed and Kavanagh was subsequently jailed for 21 years for drug dealing.
The prosecution also told Judge Philip Katz that Byrne and Kent were not right at the top in this plot but “they play leading roles”.
All three have pleaded guilty.
Kavanagh, Kent and Byrne admitted two counts of conspiracy to possession of a prohibited weapon and two counts of conspiracy to possessing ammunition for a firearm without a certificate between 9 January 2020 and 3 June 2021.
Kavanagh and Kent admit perverting the course of justice.
Defence counsel for Thomas Kavanagh has now commenced his address in mitigation and says he will be dealing with the issue of concurrent rather than consecutive sentences.
The sentence hearing is continuing at the Old Bailey in London.
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