ENCROCHAT: Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh pretended to be a 'grass' over gun stash in bid for lighter sentence

The son of one of the UK's top criminals is to walk free from prison after admitting his role in an audacious plot to get his dad a reduced jail term for a major drugs conspiracy.

Jack Kavanagh was a trainee accountant when he was dragged into a conspiracy to help his father, Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh, 57, manipulate a lighter sentence by pretending to be a genuine informant who had information on a stash of guns.

The plot was only uncovered because it was initially discussed on an encrypted phone network cracked by police.

Kavanagh senior, (above left, with Byrne (middle) and Kent) the UK boss of the notorious Kinahan crime cartel, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 at Ipswich Crown Court 20 months after he first pleaded guilty to multi-million pound drug supply offences.

He was already in prison after being jailed for three years in September 2019 for possession of a stun gun disguised as a torch found during a raid on his heavily fortified Tamworth home in January the same year.

The cartel is an international organised crime group "involved in drugs supply, firearms and money laundering" that originated in Ireland, with tentacles in Europe, Dubai and beyond, that is said to be run by Christy "The Dapper Don" Kinahan, 67, and sons Daniel, 47, and younger brother Christopher junior, 44.

There is an international bounty on their heads led by the US FBI with a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to any of their arrests.

During Kavanagh's drugs trial, he was described by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Britain's version of the FBI, as the UK boss of the cartel.

There were repeated delays to the sentencing of his subsequent drugs case, after Irish national Kavanagh, pretended to become a genuine informant for the NCA, but the plot was revealed by the infiltration of the encrypted EncroChat mobile phone network.

He did this by getting associates on the outside to bury guns that he would later give information to the law enforcement agency.

Today Kavanagh's son, Jack Kavanagh (above) and key Kinahan member Peter Keating, who both earlier admitted their roles in the plot, were sentenced at the Old Bailey.

Keating aka Peadar Keating, 43, admitted two charges of conspiracy to possess a firearm and two offences of plotting to possess ammunition at the Old Bailey on December 11 2024.

He also pleaded guilty, via a video link from Belmarsh Prison, to one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in connection with the plot.

He was jailed for four years and eight months by Judge Philip Katz and is expected to be sent back to the Republic of Ireland where he is already serving 12 years for directing a criminal organisation.

Kavanagh junior, 24, from Tamworth, also pleaded guilty to the weapons and ammunition offences after being extradited from Spain.

He was arrested in May 2023 at Malaga Airport by Spanish police, as he travelled from Dubai to Turkey.

He admitted helping his father with the attempt to manipulate a reduced jail sentence by trying to dupe the NCA into believing valid intelligence about firearms linked to other criminals was being provided.

The judge noted Jack Kavanagh was just 20 when he got embroilled in his father’s scheme and otherwise had “promising career” as an accountant, describing him as more of an “enthusiastic messenger” than an “organiser”.

In earlier mitigation, his barrister Tyrone Smith KC said: “This was a young man with a real opportunity in life to make good on his promise and was seeking to do so.

“He was not motivated by financial gain or the result of a longstanding criminal life but of misplaced loyalty.”

Judge Katz said: “Although I accept you got involved out of misguided loyalty to your father, you entered into this agreement with your eyes open.”

He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison, but due to time on remand, will be released.

Kavanagh senior, 57, had hoped that by providing the NCA with information to find the buried stash of 11 weapons, he would be able to get a reduced sentence in the drug smuggling case.

Kavanagh senior ran the conspiracy from prison while on remand for the earlier drugs case, by getting his son, Keating, his brother-in-law and key Kinahan Cartel member Liam Byrne, 44, and another associate Shaun Kent, 38, to get guns and hide them.

Thomas Kavanagh provided the NCA with information in May 2021, which led them to a field in Newry, Northern Ireland, where two holdalls were buried.

They were found to contain seven machine guns, three automatic handguns, an assault rifle and ammunition.

However, the plot was foiled as the NCA had already uncovered incriminating messages sent by the plotters on the encrypted EncroChat mobile phone network.

Fearing he was already under investigation over the drug smuggling, Kavanagh and the crooks discussed on the platform a plan to “acquire as many arms as possible” from the UK, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from January 2020.

Kavanagh was in HMP Dovegate at the time, still serving the stun gun sentence, and the discussions continued after he was remanded over the more serious drugs charges from March 2020.

Unbeknown to the crooks, the EncroChat network had been infiltrated by French and Dutch police, and this did not become public until June 2020.

French prosecutors provided the NCA with all messages sent by British users and access to live messaging, leading to the biggest ever single operation against organised crime groups in British history with more than 3,000 arrests, close to 2,000 charges and hundreds of convictions with more cases still to conclude.

In reality, NCA officers had seen their Encrochat conversations and uncovered the role each man had played in the conspiracy.

Jack used the handle 'BasilBadger' and 'ThiLive' and had numerous conversations with Liam Byrne and Shaun Kent to obtain firearms for use in the conspiracy and was referred to as 'Junior' in other chats between the two.

In one message, Jack indicates the urgency of obtaining the guns due to his dad being in prison: "Pressure in there is another level, 23 hours a day and can't even get on the basher himself. And then waiting on this court date and then waiting on these other yokes [guns]. Madness'.

In other messages he asks 'what's d crack wit them other things [firearms] coming' and that 'he [Thomas] requires everything ready once this virus f***** off', and announces a 'big change of plan' to get 14 weapons through two contacts and that 'he [Thomas] wants them passed by this time next week'.

Keating is seen in messages planning how the guns will move through a third party. In one he states: "My man is not going to drive up am empty motorway during a lockdown in middle of a pandemic at 5am in the morning. He always done it his own way your pop knows this. So he won't change his way now. Its served him so well so far no problems."

In another, Kent is messaging Keating telling him that Mick, a nickname for Thomas Kavanagh, is saying 'time's running out for him, needs [firearms] ASAP' and Keating tells Kavanagh: 'I'm doing all I can mate if I had someone to drive them [the weapons] any were I'd have got this all done weeks ago and be off my head stress off it all.'

The plans continued until April 2021 when Thomas Kavanagh's legal representatives provided the NCA with a map of a location in Newry, Northern Ireland.

The location was searched with assistance from Police Service of Northern Ireland officers who discovered two holdalls, covered in some soil and debris. The holdalls were opened and 11 machine type weapons and ammunition were recovered. Officers then linked Kavanagh, Keating and other defendants to evidence the elaborate conspiracy.

Shaun Kent was arrested in March 2021 at his home address. Thomas Kavanagh, who had been sentenced to 21 years for previous drug trafficking offences, was arrested at HMP Norwich in August 2021. He and Kent were subsequently charged with firearms offences and perverting the course of justice in August 2023.

Since Kavanagh senior was jailed over the drug smuggling, the NCA rounded up his associates involved in the conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Byrne had fled the UK, but was arrested in June 2023 in the Alcudia area of Mallorca. He was escorted back to the UK by officers from the NCA in December 2023, where he was also charged with firearms offences and remanded into custody.

Following Jack's return to the UK, he was remanded into custody after a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, and pleaded guilty to all offences on 1 November 2024.

In September, Kavanagh, Byrne, originally from Dublin, but who had been living in the UK, and Kent, from Liverpool, admitted the weapons and ammunition plots.

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

Thomas Kavanagh was jailed for six years for masterminding the conspiracy and he will serve this consecutively to his earlier jail sentences.

Byrne fled to Majorca during the probe and had to be extradited. He was jailed for five years while Kent was handed a six-year prison sentence.

The men are likely to be placed under Serious Crime Prevention Orders upon their release.

Craig Turner, Deputy Director of Investigations at the National Crime Agency, said: "Kavanagh and Keating were a central part of this plot to deceive us in a bid to reduce the lengthy sentence Kavanagh's father was facing for drugs offences.

"Their messages showed they were involved in much of the logistics of the plan to obtain the firearms, all of which were viable deadly weapons.

"While Jack attempted to evade justice by fleeing abroad, our global reach and close working with international partners saw him returned to the UK and now starting a lengthy prison sentence."