Irish crime boss admits gun cache trick

Thomas Kavanagh hoped to get a reduced sentence by appearing to cooperate with the National Crime Agency

A boss of an organised crime gang and two of his key members have admitted a trick to create a fake arms cache in a bid to help him secure a lighter prison sentence.

In 2020, Irish national Thomas Kavanagh was facing a lengthy jail term for trafficking cocaine and cannabis into the UK.

Along with the two other men, the 57-year-old from Tamworth acquired a collection of firearms, hid them in a field in Northern Ireland and gave police the location.

He hoped the apparent co-operation would reduce his sentence on the drugs charges.

However, the plan was discovered after French police cracked the secure messaging app EncroChat and passed information to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK.

On Wednesday, Kavanagh, his brother-in-law Liam Byrne, 44, from Dublin, and Shaun Kent, 38, from Liverpool were due to stand trial at the Old Bailey, but at the 11th hour admitted firearms offences.

All three pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiring to possess a prohibited weapon, and two charges of conspiring to possess prohibited ammunition.

Judge Philip Katz KC said he would sentence the men on 21 October.

The NCA said Kavanagh's plan had involved 11 firearms, including three Skorpion submachine guns, three Heckler and Kochs, an Uzi submachine gun and ammunition from the UK, the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland.

Through his solicitor, he provided a map with instructions and X marking the spot in Newry.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland found buried, just beneath the surface, two holdalls containing the guns and ammunition.

But after receiving information from the French police, the NCA withdrew its co-operation.

In March 2022, Kavanagh was sentenced to 21 years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court.

NCA investigators had linked Kavanagh and others to large scale drug shipments with a UK street value of about £30m, as well as movements of cash and firearms.