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Kinahan gang boss's son admits role in gun plot

National Crime Agency/PA Wire Jack Kavanagh looking away from the camera in a photo taken by the National Crime Agency. He has short brown hair and is wearing a dark blue sports top with a zip at the neck.National Crime Agency/PA Wire
Jack Kavanagh had to be extradited to the UK after his arrest in Spain

The son of a senior figure in the Kinahan crime gang has admitted his role in a plot to lead police to a stash of buried guns in a bid to shorten his father's jail term.

Jack Kavanagh, 24, from Tamworth in England is the son of Thomas Kavanagh, a serving prisoner who orchestrated the gun plot from his jail cell.

Thomas Kavanagh tried to influence his sentence by leading the National Crime Agency to a cache of guns buried in a field in outside Newry, Northern Ireland.

On Friday, Jack Kavanagh pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to possess a firearm and two offences of plotting to possess ammunition.

National Crime Agency/PA Wire A photo of four of the 11 guns which were hidden by the conspirators in a field for the NCA to find. The weapons are packed into white boxes with clear plastic covers. Two of the boxes are marked with green labels which read: "Free from ammunition".National Crime Agency/PA Wire
The NCA released a photo of the haul of weapons which were buried in the field

He appeared at the Old Bailey by video-link from Belmarsh prison, 10 days after his father was sentenced over the same failed conspiracy.

Thomas Kavanagh, an Irish national, provided information about the guns to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in May 2021.

The were led to a field in where two holdall bags were unearthed in a field in Jerrettspass, County Armagh.

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

Thomas Kavanagh ran the conspiracy from HMP Dovegate where he was serving a three-year sentence for possession of a stun gun.

He was also being held on remand over serious charges in a multimillion-pound drug smuggling case, for which he expected a much more lengthy sentence.

In a bid to reduce his jail time, Thomas Kavanagh enlisted the help of his son, as well as his brother-in-law, 44-year-old Liam Byrne from Dublin.

An associate of the crime gang boss, 38-year-old Shaun Kent from Liverpool, was also recruited into the plan to dupe the NCA with the arms find.

Father's jail term lengthened

The plot was foiled after the NCA uncovered incriminating messages on encrypted EncroChat service which had been cracked by French authorities.

Thomas Kavanagh was later found guilty in the drug smuggling case and was sentenced to 21 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and cannabis into the UK.

Last month, the crime boss was sentenced to an additional six years in prison over the Newry guns plot, to be served consecutively to his existing 21-year term.

Byrne was sentenced to five years in prison and Kent was jailed for six years.

Jack Kavanagh was extradited to the UK last month to face prosecution over the gun plot.

He had been arrested at Malaga Airport by the Spanish National Police in May 2023, while travelling from Dubai to Turkey.

Following his guilty plea, the judge at the Old Bailey remanded him into custody to be sentenced on 4 December.