Two Senior Kinahan Gang Members Imprisoned in UK for Gun Conspiracy

Senior Kinahan Gang Members Imprisoned in UK

Two senior Kinahan Gang members imprisoned in UK for the gun conspiracy. The conspiracy is related to guns and ammunition stockpiles. 

Thomas Kavanagh, 57 and his brother-in-law Liam Bryne, 43 are the two senior Kinahan gang members who have pleaded guilty to the gun conspiracy. 38-year-old Shaun Kent was also involved from Liverpool, sources confirmed. 

Kavanagh is sentenced to six years in addition to his already 21-year sentence. It is expected that he might get a lighter sentence for drug smuggling. 

Byrne was sentenced to five years in UK prison whereas Kent was imprisoned for the next six years.

Byrne fled to Majorca after the advent of these events and is now jailed for five years. The three defendants appeared via video link on Tuesday from HMP Belmarsh.

It was revealed that senior Kinahan gang members imprisoned in UK contained seven machine guns, an assault rifle, three automatic handguns,  and ammunition. 

UK judge Philip Katz gives decision on sentence  

The UK judge Philip Katz gave a ruling that an overarching criminal plan was formulated in order to support Kavanagh for his sentence. It was inferred that the plan was for fooling the National Crime Agency (NCA) about a cache of guns. 

Another fooling was intended out of the judge to sentence Kavanagh related to drug trafficking.

The judge explained that even though guns were collected from the senior Kinahan gang members for conspiracy and not for general purposes, it was still considered a category one offence, for which the most serious form of sentencing was much needed.  

It was confirmed by the judge that three men were involved in the hoarding of hundreds of guns and other dangerous weapons for sourcing purposes. They were paid by senior members of their network, alleged to be serious criminals.

One of the senior Kinahan gang members, Kavanagh, was “able to pull the strings” despite being in jail for the gun conspiracy

More details about their UK imprisonment terms were revealed by the judge. He told that all three of them could serve half of their sentence terms in custody. Therefore, it is denoted that Byrne will be released after two-and-a-half years on licence. 

Kent has already served more than three years in custody. 

Prosecutor Tom Forster on gun conspiracy

Prosecutor Tom Forster validated that Kavanagh planned to get as many weapons and ammunition as possible, even if it involved acquisition from various criminals, hiding them and revealing their whereabouts to the NCA. Unfortunately, his plan didn’t work, the prosecutor certified.

It was a master plan to fool the authorities so that they might have thought that the assistance was real, whereas it genuinely wasn’t. Kavanagh believed that he might be successful in getting his imprisonment term reduced as a reward for helping the officials. 

However, a considerable discount in his term, as Kavanagh thought, was not possible for a false uncovering of dangerous weapons. Their plan failed. 

Fooling plan of senior Kinahan Gang members imprisoned in UK unveiled from messages

Their French counterparts have been successful in decoding the chat between the gang members about the fooling plan. The messages were encrypted on EnroChat and NCA uncovered them with full details. 

Senior Kinahan Gang Members Imprisoned in UK
Senior Kinahan Gang Members Imprisoned in UK with NCA’s efforts in decryption of EnroChat messages

The messages were recorded between January 2020 and June 2021 in which the members had agreed to obtain “as many arms as possible”  from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. 

The entire gun conspiracy was headed by Kavanagh from HMP Dovegate where he was already serving his three-year incarceration. His imprisonment there was related to possession of a stun gun and serious drug charges in March 2020. 

The drug charges involved “multiple kilos” of cocaine and cannabis coming into the UK for which he was instantly caught and jailed in March 2022 for another 21 years. 

After the NCA unveiling of the messages’ details, it came into view that Kent was telling Byrne that Kavanagh ordered them to keep the authorities looking for firearms but before them, try to get as many of them as possible. The message said that it was his “only chance he’s got on getting good results out of his case”. 

Another message appeared where Kent talked about Kavanagh having less time and being under “great pressure” as he was soon due to appear in court for his case hearing. 

Apparently, Kent was their messenger so arranging ammunition and guns in the outside world could have become easier, with Kavanagh being in jail at the moment. He was receiving instructions from a middleman in jail, directly from Kavanagh.

Byrne had been their close associate of Kavanagh and Kent in arranging guns and ammunition. They lived close to each other in Tamworth, Staffordshire. 

Byrne was the one who had expedited the entire process of firearms acquisition and added the “much-needed impetus” to the plot. 

Irish Chief Superintendent welcomes the sentences 

Chief Superintendent Detective Seamus Boland, also the head of Garda National Drugs and Organised Crimes was content with the judgement of the UK sentences of famous Irish organised crime group’s members. 

He said,

“The sentences received by Thomas Kavanagh and Liam Byrne, in particular, are welcome and I commend our colleagues at the National Crime Agency, for their determination for justice to be delivered in this case”.

He elucidated that the current gun conspiracy shows how far organised crime groups could go to mislead and corrupt the legal processes of any country. He was of the view that they would use any illicit resources that could have a massive adverse impact on the crime landscape in Ireland, even if conspiracies like these have taken place in the UK. 

He assured that Ireland has always taken the lead in getting its hands on such organised crime groups, especially one of the most prominent ones, the Kinahan Gang. The country would keep networking with international partners so that tackling these groups and dismantling their networks could become convenient that have a negative impact on Irish communities, he proclaimed.

It denotes that Ireland, which was previously expected to make extradition efforts with the UAE, where Dubai has become a magnet for the criminals to take shelter, would take every possible step to catch the criminals, just like in the United Kingdom. 

FAQs

1. Who are the senior Kinahan gang members involved in the gun conspiracy?

  • Thomas Kavanagh, 57, and Liam Byrne, 43, are the two senior Kinahan gang members involved in the gun conspiracy. Another individual, Shaun Kent, 38, from Liverpool, was also implicated.

2. What sentences did Kavanagh, Byrne, and Kent receive?

  • Kavanagh was sentenced to an additional six years in prison on top of his 21-year drug trafficking sentence. Byrne was sentenced to five years, and Kent was sentenced to six years.

3. What was the nature of the gun conspiracy?

  • The conspiracy involved the accumulation of a large stockpile of firearms and ammunition, including seven machine guns, an assault rifle, three automatic handguns, and ammunition. The gang members aimed to deceive authorities by feigning cooperation to reduce Kavanagh’s prison sentence.

4. What role did each gang member play in the conspiracy?

  • Kavanagh led the operation from prison, with Kent acting as a messenger between him and Byrne. Byrne was instrumental in sourcing and expediting the acquisition of firearms, while Kent coordinated gun sourcing and ammunition acquisition.

5. How did authorities uncover the gun conspiracy?

  • The National Crime Agency (NCA) decrypted encrypted messages exchanged on EnroChat between the gang members from January 2020 to June 2021, which revealed their plans to acquire firearms from multiple countries.

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