Kinahan’s crime boss orchestrated the discovery of weapons caches from prison, the court told The Irish Times

A leading figure of organized crime group Kinahan orchestrated a plot to amass a cache of weapons and use them to secure a lighter prison sentence, a court has heard.

Dubliner Thomas Kavanagh, 57, had hoped that by leading the National Crime Agency to a buried cache of 11 weapons he could influence a conviction in a multi-million pound drugs smuggling case.

He enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, Liam Byrne, and associate Shaun Kent in the plan to deceive the NCA.

In May 2021, Kavanagh provided information to the NCA that led them to a field in Newry, Northern Ireland, where two overnight bags were unearthed.

They contained seven machine guns, three automatic handguns, an assault rifle and ammunition.

The plot was foiled after the NCA discovered incriminating messages on the encrypted EncroChat that had been cracked by French counterparts.

Ahead of their Old Bailey trial, Kavanagh, Byrne and Kent admitted the conspiracy last month.

They returned to court on Monday under increased security for the start of a two-day sentencing hearing.

Prosecutor Tom Forster QC said the case involved “high-level organized crime”.

He told the court: “But given the NCA’s possession of the EncroChat evidence, there is a good chance the plot would have been successful.”

Between January 2020 and June 2021, the defendants agreed to “acquire as many weapons as possible” from Britain, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Kavanagh had led the conspiracy from HMP Dovegate, where he was serving a three-year prison sentence for possessing a stun gun and had been on remand since March 2020 on serious drugs charges.

Those charges related to smuggling “several kilos” of cocaine and cannabis into Britain, for which he was sentenced to 21 years in prison in March 2022.

Mr Forster said: “In short, Thomas Kavanagh’s plan, which the other defendants agreed to and put into practice, was to collect as many weapons and ammunition as possible, obtain the weapons of various criminals, then hide and eventually reveal their whereabouts to them. the NCA.

“In this way, the conspirators aimed to fool authorities into concluding that the assistance was genuine when it was not, so that Thomas Kavanagh would be rewarded for helping authorities recover dangerous weapons through a significant reduction in his sentence.

“The true position, however, was that he and his co-conspirators had no intention of providing any real assistance because they had orchestrated the acquisition of weapons and ammunition through their own serious criminality. It was a ‘rigged job’.”

Mr Forster said the plot was exposed in encrypted messages on EncroChat, described as “WhatsApp for criminals”.

Although Kavanagh did not use EncroChat himself, other conspirators referred to him by the nicknames “Pops”, “Mick”, “Big Head” and “Malla” or simply “our mate”, the court heard.

The defendants’ confidence in their safety was misplaced when French authorities breached the system in 2020, collected data and shared it with British law enforcement.

The NCA’s “meticulous” investigation revealed the handles of conspirators from three months of messages.

Kent is said to have fulfilled various roles, including that of a ‘messenger’ by receiving instructions from Kavanagh through an intermediary in prison.

He then used his EncroChat device to relay instructions to others tasked with him to obtain the weapons and ammunition, the court was told.

Byrne was a close criminal associate of both Kavanagh and his brother-in-law, and they lived close to each other in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

He acted on Kavanagh’s instructions to acquire firearms and ammunition, adding “much-needed impetus” to the plot’s progress.

Kavanagh, Byrne, 44, of Dublin, and Kent, 38, of Liverpool, admitted two charges of conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, and two charges of conspiracy to possess prohibited ammunition, between January 9, 2020 and June 3, 2021 .

Kavanagh and Kent also admitted conspiring with others to pervert the course of justice.

Judge Philip Katz KC is expected to deliver his ruling on Tuesday. – PA