Thomas Kavanagh (Irish criminal)

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Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh is an Irish criminal and a senior member of the crime organisation founded by Christy Kinahan.[1]

He was one of the first targets of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) when it was established.[1]

Byrne organised crime[]

He is a member of the Byrne organised crime group, a branch of the Kinahan crime organisation.[1] Originally led by Christy Kinahan, it was then led by Freddie Thompson, then by Kavanagh's brother-in-law Liam Byrne.[1] He also has influence with the Dubai-based leadership of organisation.[1]

In 1990 he was found guilty of a firearms offence that led to a seven-year term in an Irish prison.[2]

In July 1999 CAB secured an order against Kavanagh for IR £106,000 for unpaid taxes on income the bureau said was derived from criminal activity.[1] His house on Knocknarea Avenue, Drimnagh was seized.[1]

In October 2000 he was one of a group of people who assaulted a witness in the Four Courts who had testified against Liam Byrne.[1]

In 2018 he attended the funeral of his brother-in-law David Byrne who had been shot dead as part of the Hutch-Kinahan feud.[3]

Move to UK[]

He moved to the UK after 2000 and settled in Tamworth.[1] Christy Kinahan had previously settled in this town when he first left Ireland.[1]

He has his own gang based in Birmingham.[1]

Car dealership[]

Like his brother-in-law he runs a luxury car dealership in the UK.[1]

Gardaí believe that the dealership is a front for laundering drug money and that cars have been exchanged between criminal-owned companies as payment for drugs.[1] It also allows a group of criminals in England and Ireland to have access to luxury cars which they do not own and cannot be seized from them.[1]

Convictions in UK[]

In 2017 he was given a sixteen month suspended sentence for failing to declare taxable income and supplying false payslips to secure a mortgage.[2]

In September 2019 he was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court for three years at for possessing a 10,000-volt stun gun disguised as a torch along with other weaponry found in his house.[2][1] During the trial it emerged that an Osman warning had been issued to him in early 2018.[2]

In July 2020 Thomas Kavanagh, along with Gary Vickery and Daniel Canning pleaded guilty to drugs and money-laundering offences at Ipswich Crown Court.[4]

Criminal Assets Bureau[]

In March 2022 it was revealed that the Criminal Assets Bureau was pursing a case against Kavanagh, as well as Jim Mansfield Jnr and Daniel Kinahan.[5] The case has been pursued for over a year in secret, with Mansfield as the main target, with Kavanagh and Kinahan, among others, as respondents.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lally, Conor (3 September 2019). "A life in crime: Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh". Irish Times. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Senior Kinahan figure Thomas Kavanagh jailed in UK for having 10,000-volt stun gun disguised as torch". Irish Examiner. Press Association. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  3. ^ Foy, Ken (7 July 2020). "Cartel 'general' Bomber and pals plead guilty to huge guns and drugs plot". The Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  4. ^ Reynolds, Paul (6 July 2020). "Three Kinahan members plead guilty to drugs, money laundering offences". RTE News. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b Lally, Conor (2022-03-09). "Daniel Kinahan pursued by Criminal Assets Bureau for first time". Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
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