Kavanagh jailing another blow to Kinahan crime cartel

The jailing of Dubliner Thomas Kavanagh in England following a joint operation between gardaí and UK police appears to mark yet another blow for the Kinahan crime cartel.

While declining to comment on the legal case or on reports of links between Kavanagh and the Kinahan cartel, Garda Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll said the joint operation underlined the importance and effectiveness of co-operation between the Garda and police forces internationally in tackling organised crime.

“Any arrest of a person involved in organised crime helps to contribute to the dismantling of that criminal organisation,” he said.

Kavanagh (51) is a brother in law of Liam Byrne, linked to the Kinahan group, and also of David Byrne, an associate of the Kinahan cartel.

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David Byrne was shot dead in an attack on Dublin’s Regency Hotel in February 2016. That shooting seriously escalated the feud between the rival Hutch and Kinahan gangs which has resulted in 18 deaths, including people with no association with crime or either gang.

Kavanagh, described in court as a dealer in luxury cars, had been living in the UK for several years and had an address at Sutton Road, Mile Oak, Tamworth.

Stun gun

He was jailed on Monday for three years for illegal possession of a disguised 10,000-volt stun gun, seized during a search last January of his gated €1 million luxury home which has bulletproof windows. The maximum sentence of five years was not imposed for reasons including he had no serious convictions since 2001.

After the sentencing, Mr O’Driscoll, head of the Garda Special Crime Operations unit, said the Garda has placed emphasis on international co-operation with other police forces in seeking to combat organised crime. The benefits of this were evident from the seizure in recent days by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau of heroin valued at €1 million, he said.

He said Kavanagh’s criminal activity relates to organised crime and any arrest of those involved in organised crime helps to contribute to the dismantling of the relevant criminal organisation, he said.

Kavanagh was previously described by the Criminal Assets Bureau as having "a direct role in the directing" of the Kinahan cartel. He has previous convictions in Ireland dating back to 1985, including seven offences of possessing firearms in 1990 for which he was jailed for seven years.

He also has convictions for obstructing a power of search for a drugs warrant and two charges of making threats to kill and two for causing actual bodily harm.

He has a further conviction for hiding his true earnings to dodge paying £83,000 tax, for which he received a 16-month suspended sentence.

Last January, Kavanagh was one of three men detained in Birmingham as part of a joint operation between the UK's National Crime Agency and the Garda.

Gardaí have no police powers outside the Republic but can travel to other jurisdictions and offer advice to the local police. Members of the Garda were on the ground in England during the operation.

The NCA, following the arrest, released a statement saying Kavanagh had been detained as part of its investigations into “the supply of drugs and firearms” in Ireland and the UK.

It also said officers from the NCA and Staffordshire police had conducted searches and had recovered a combination torch and stun gun, which is illegal to own and possess in the UK.

Kavanagh was convicted at Stoke-on-Trent crown court in July of having the stun gun. During his trial, the prosecution said Kavanagh had a number of aliases, including the name Paul Harvey, and three different dates of birth. Lawyers for Kavanagh said he had rebuilt his life after moving to the UK.