Alleged gang leaders from Dublin, Liam Byrne and his brother-in-law Thomas Kavanagh, are due for trial before London’s Old Bailey from Monday morning to face a series of firearms conspiracy charges.
Their trial follows an investigation by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) which intercepted messages on the secretive EncroChat system, favoured by criminals, that was infiltrated by international law enforcement for months in 2020.
The trial of Mr Byrne and Mr Kavanagh, who are accused with others, is the first high-profile trial involving Irish suspects to be based on intercepted messages for EncroChat. Criminals used the privately run encrypted messaging platform, which could only be accessed via modified devices, to communicate with each other believing it could not be breached.
Mr Byrne (43), Crumlin, Dublin, and Mr Kavanagh (56), from Dublin but based in Tamworth for many years, appeared before the Old Bailey two weeks ago when legal argument and other matters were before the court. Their trial is due to go ahead this week before a jury, with the first evidence expected to be heard on Monday. It is expected to take up to two months.
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The charges against the two men – and their co-accused – involve two separate alleged firearms conspiracies in Britain. The NCA has claimed Mr Byrne is linked to both alleged conspiracies.
He 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.
Mr McLoughlin was also before the Old Bailey two weeks ago, 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 at the hearing a fortnight ago. 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 Kavanagh and is also Liam Byrne’s nephew.
The charges against the Mr Byrne and Mr Kavanagh include conspiring to: possess a firearm without a certificate; possess ammunition for a firearm without a certificate; possess a prohibited weapon; possess prohibited ammunition; and pervert the course of justice. Mr Kavanagh’s son, Jack, and Mr Kent face the same five charges while Mr McLoughlin faces the same four ammunition and weapons charges, though he is not charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Byrne 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. The EncroChat 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.
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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