Even though Kavanagh has received total headline sentences of 30 years - he can expect release in 10 years' time, when he is 67 years old
Desperate Kinahan cartel boss Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh will spend a further decade behind bars after his weapons plot to secure a lesser sentence spectacularly backfired.
READ MORE: Kinahan mobster Liam Byrne and 'Bomber' Kavanagh learn when they can walk free at UK sentencing Judge Katz granted Byrne credit for some 192 days that he spent in Spanish custody last year awaiting extradition - and he can automatically be assumed to be credited for the 10 months he spent in UK custody awaiting trial. It means that Byrne could expect release after just under 14 months - news which clearly delighted his son Lee, who yesterday posted to Instagram: “Get in there. I love you Da. See you soon.
In a statement following sentencing on Tuesday, the NCA said the three men engaged in “an elaborate plot” to acquire firearms to help ‘Bomber' - who they called “the head of an organised crime group” - achieve a lighter sentence. While on remand, they said Kavanagh “set in motion a series of events that he hoped would result in a significant discount to any sentence he was likely to get at the end of his trial”.
Messages included Kent messaging Byrne saying Kavanagh had asked him to pass on a message to 'keep on about locating them things ' for his mate. He added: "He said try get as many of them as you can... only chance he's got on getting good result out of this case mate." The NCA also pursued Byrne - but the mobster fled the UK and a major effort was then launched to arrest him in the Alcudia area of Mallorca in June 2023. He spent six months in prison there fighting his extradition - before being sent back to the UK and escorted by officers straight to court. The men initially pleaded not guilty and were going towards an eight-week jury trial before they pleaded guilty the day before it was due to begin on September 18.
“The real question is how much extra I am to add to that very long term now," he said. "I would have passed a sentence of eight years after credit. Taking into account that factor, the very least sentence I can pass is six years consecutive. You will serve half of that when serve your sentence,” he told Kavanagh.
The details of incriminating ‘Encrochat’ conversations between Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne were heard at the first day of their sentencing hearing before London’s Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey on Monday. In mitigation, a Defence barrister for Liam Byrne later told the court that his client “never wants to find himself in this position again,” and “wants to find himself living a good and honest life,” when he is released.
Prosecuting Counsel told Judge Katz that it was clear from the messages that “sizeable sums of money were required to be exchanged for these firearms” - with the court later hearing how sums of £14,000 and €86,000 needed to be handed over for them. The prosecution outlined that Shaun Kent “acted as the messenger boy” and took instructions from a middle man in prison about how and from whom the weapons could and should be acquired. Kent, they said, used Encrochat to relay messages to others, including Liam Byrne, and to give them instructions from Kavanagh. In order to progress the plot, Kent, first using the encrypted handle ‘Marcos Cafu’, “sought weapons from various sources,” for example, criminals in Manchester, the prosecution said.
In a message to Liam Byrne, an encrypted user references weapons in a “flat” that should be left there until the sentencing stage when the ‘big things’ would then be handed up to the NCA. Another man who cannot currently be named as he’s before the courts is alleged to have been asked in further encrypted messages seen by investigators if they are going to tell the NCA “he has tools in Ireland and the UK,” to which he responds: “Yes. Going on up North.
On April 18, an associate was informed on Encrochat that Liam Byrne “could source glocks for £3,500 each,” and a message referencing how Byrne could “sort tools” was also sent. Kent sent Byrne a message asking Byrne to “keep on about locating them things” and in referencing Kavanagh’s increasing frustration told him: “Mate, try and get as many of them as you can. He needs them. Only chance he’s got of getting a good result out of this case.
The prosecution said he ordered three skorpion machine pistols and two handguns - and sought about securing an RPG. He purchased two 9mm magnum 44 spinner guns at a price of £14,000 and dispatched a courier to deliver the guns. Kent then informed Liam Byrne that he “just got three of them through our mate” and that he hoped to get five more in a week. Byrne, who was pleased, replied “ah deadly mate fair play, they will add up nicely”.
In further messages on May 30, there were discussions about getting “items” “up north” and a message stating that “time is running out”. On May 31, an associate provided Byrne with a “new source of weapons” and further messages stated that he had “20 small cards” in ‘flat’. In a message in response, Byrne asked the associate “how long” the weapons would sit there, and was told “until sentence I’d say”.
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