The trial of two well-known Dublin criminals, who held senior positions in the Kinahan cartel in Ireland and Britain, has been adjourned for two weeks and was expected to take up to two months before the Old Bailey in London.
Liam Byrne and Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh appeared before the Old Bailey on Monday morning, when legal argument and other matters were before the court. Formal proceedings, before a jury and which can be reported on by the media, were not due to commence until September 16th.
The charges against the two men – and a number of co-accused – allegedly involves two separate firearms conspiracies in Britain. The British National Crime Agency (NCA), which has conducted the investigation, has claimed Mr Byrne is linked to both alleged conspiracies.
The Dubliner is accused of conspiring with a 36-year-old Liverpool man, Daniel McLoughlin, and others to possess firearms and ammunition between April and May 2020. Mr Byrne is also accused of conspiring to possess firearms and ammunition between January 2020, and June 2021.
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Mr McLoughlin was also before the Old Bailey on Monday morning, with the three accused speaking only to confirm their names. Other men who have been named previously – in investigation updates released by the NCA – were not before the Old Bailey on Monday. Mr Byrne, Mr Kavanagh and Mr McLoughlin deny all of the charges against them.
In relation to the charges with the later dates, Mr Byrne is accused of conspiring with Jack Kavanagh (23) of Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Shaun Kent (35) of Liverpool, and another man. Jack Kavanagh is the son of Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh and is also Liam Byrne’s nephew.
While Mr Byrne (43) has been in prison, on remand, in Britain since last December, when he was extradited by the Spanish authorities following his arrest in Mallorca in June, 2023. Mr Kavanagh (55) is also in a UK jail, serving 21 years for trafficking drugs into Britain.
The charges result from messages harvested from EncroChat, the encrypted messaging platform used by crime gangs and infiltrated by international law enforcement. Those messages allegedly link the men to a gang, based in Britain, that was acquiring and selling firearms and ammunition to other crime gangs.
A haul of 11 firearms linked to the alleged gun running conspiracy was, according to the NCA, recovered in Ireland after information supplied by Mr Kavanagh, allegedly with a view to securing a short sentence for him.
Mr Kavanagh was jailed in 2022 for 21 years in Britain for his lead role in importing consignments of drugs into Britain valued at approximately €35 million. His son Jack and Mr Byrne were arrested in Spain – Malaga and Mallorca respectively – in June, 2023, on foot of extradition requests from the British authorities.
Mr Byrne’s brother, David (34), was killed in the Hutch gang attack at the Regency Hotel, Dublin, in 2016, and he fled Ireland after that attack. His assets, including his home in Raleigh Square, Crumlin, were seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in 2018. While Mr Byrne initially settled in Britain after leaving Ireland, he later left for Dubai after the NCA inquiry into him, Mr Kavanagh and their associates, gathered pace.
The investigation into the men, which was part of Operation Venetic, has led NCA officers to believe Mr Byrne, Jack Kavanagh and Mr Kent “conspired to pervert the course of justice by planning to reveal the location of weapons in an attempt to get Thomas Kavanagh a reduced prison sentence”. That allegation was made in a statement by the NCA last year.
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