Liam Byrne and fellow senior Kinahan crime group member Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh are before a court in London over weapons plot
A lawyer for Liam Byrne , a leading member of the Kinahan organised crime group who has pleaded guilty to weapons charges in Britain, has urged a judge at the Old Bailey in London to be lenient with his client, whom he said intends to lead “a good and honest life when he is released”.
Kavanagh directed Byrne, Kent and others in 2020 to procure firearms, which the gang buried in a field near Newry in Co Down. Kavanagh, then in custody in Britain and facing a heavy sentence for cocaine and cannabis trafficking, then pretended to be an informant.
Byrne had used the EncroChat handle Thai Live, while others referred to him by the nickname Gargler. Kent, meanwhile, used the EncroChat handles Firm Cleaner and Marcos Cafu to pass on messages received through an intermediary from Kavanagh behind bars. The trail of messages revealed how Kent, Byrne and others tried to procure guns in the Republic, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and in Manchester. They referred to weapons as “yokes”, “small ones and big ones”, “tools” and “stuff what makes a loud noise”. Ammunition was “sweets”.
EncroChat was compromised in June 2020, months before Kavanagh approached the NCA. Through his lawyers, he gave officers a map with X marking the spot in a field near Newry. There, officers found 11 guns, including submachine guns and pistols, in holdalls beneath the surface.
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