Irish crime boss admits to tricking police for lighter sentence

Thomas Kavanagh, a 57-year-old crime boss from Tamworth, along with his associates Liam Byrne and Shaun Kent, devised a scheme to create a fake arms cache to reduce his prison sentence for drug charges. They acquired 11 firearms, including submachine guns, and concealed them in a field in Northern Ireland, providing police with a map to the location. This act was intended to demonstrate cooperation with law enforcement in hopes of leniency during sentencing. The plan unraveled when French police intercepted communications on the secure messaging app EncroChat, leading to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK being informed. As a result, the NCA withdrew its cooperation with Kavanagh, undermining his strategy to secure a lighter sentence. The police subsequently discovered the hidden firearms and ammunition, confirming the deception. Kavanagh, Byrne, and Kent were initially set to stand trial at the Old Bailey but opted to plead guilty to multiple firearms offenses at the last moment. They admitted to conspiring to possess prohibited weapons and ammunition, which highlighted the serious nature of their criminal activities. The judge, Philip Katz KC, scheduled sentencing for 21 October. In March 2022, Kavanagh was sentenced to 21 years in prison for his involvement in large-scale drug trafficking operations valued at approximately £30 million. This case underscores the complexities of organized crime and the lengths to which individuals will go to manipulate the justice system.