Thomas ‘Bomber' Kavanagh faces extra 12-yr jail term as Kinahan mob's UK leader given 3 months to pay authorities €1.2m
The demand against the 57-year-old thug follows a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation led by the National Crime Agency.
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Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh has been ordered to pay €1.2m to authorities
Credit: PA:Press Association
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Kavanagh was the UK leader of Daniel Kinahan's mob
The latest probe against the
Detectives estimated his operation saw over €30million of cocaine and
He also admitted being involved in the illegal trafficking of firearms and money laundering.
READ MORE ON KINAHAN
He was jailed for 21 years in March 2022.
The probe revealed how Kavanagh was heading up the criminal enterprise and he was lifted at
Following his sentencing, NCA investigators began looking into the gang's finances and assets for seizure under the Proceeds of
Officers estimated that Kavanagh's criminal profits were in the region of almost €14m, but recoverable assets amounted to €1.2m.
Most read in Irish News
This includes his 50 per cent share of his fortified family mansion in Tamworth, Staffordshire, in the UK's
It also features money from the sale of various other properties in the
Moment US authorities announce they're offering a $5m bounty for information about Daniel Kinahan
Kavanagh - who played a central role of orchestrating the feud against the
Another high-ranking member of Kavanagh's gang was Gary Vickery.
The 43-year-old, also from
Vickery was also subject to the POCA hearing and has been ordered to pay back €125,000 within three months or face another two years in prison.
At previous hearings orders were made to forfeit an Audemars Piguet watch worth €86,000, as well as just over €100,000 that was seized from a hotel room when Vickery was arrested.
'BELIEVED THEY WERE UNTOUCHABLE'
Kay Mellor, Head of Operations HQ at the National Crime Agency, said: "Thomas Kavanagh was the head of the UK's arm of the Kinahan organised crime group, responsible for the importation and distribution of
'He and his gang believed they were untouchable, but that proved to be their downfall. Kavanagh and Vickery will be behind bars for many years to come and now have to pay back more than £1million to the state.
'We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to target, disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups, deprive them of their assets and ensure they face justice'.
'DANGEROUS CRIMINALS'
Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor, added: 'Thomas Kavanagh and Gary Vickery are dangerous criminals in the organised gang world, importing millions of pounds worth of dangerous drugs on an industrial scale to the UK.
'This successful £1million Confiscation Order demonstrates the prosecution team's commitment to work across borders to strip organised criminals of their illegal gains.
'We continue to pursue the proceeds of crime robustly and will return them back to court to serve an additional sentence of imprisonment if they fail to pay their orders.
'In the last five years, over £478million has been recovered from CPS obtained Confiscation Orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot benefit from their offending. £95million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation."
REDUCED SENTENCE PLOT
In October 2024, Kavanagh admitted additional firearms offences and perverting the course of justice, after NCA officers uncovered an elaborate plan that Kavanagh hoped would significantly reduce his prison sentence.
Kavanagh directed his trusted associates Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne to purchase firearms and ammunition and bury them so he could reveal their whereabouts to NCA investigators.
All three were jailed for a total of 17 years, with Kavanagh's six years to be served on top of his 21-year sentence.
Kavanagh remains the highest-ranking member of the
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He was arrested in October 2017
Credit: Handout
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He will have three months to pay the sum or face another 12 years in prison
Credit: PA:Press Association
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Kavanagh directed his trusted associates to purchase firearms and bury them so he could reveal their whereabouts to NCA investigators
Credit: PA:Press Association
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Sunday World
9 hours ago
- Sunday World
Son of Kinahan boss Thomas ‘Bomber' Kavanagh set up roofing company after prison release
Trainee accountant was jailed for trying to help criminal dad Jack from Tamworth, Birmingham a trainee accountant, became caught up in Bomber's criminal enterprises when he tried to help his father orchestrate a lighter sentence for drug smuggling. The plot involved acquiring and then hiding a stash of handguns, machine guns and ammunition and then alerting the National Crime Agency (NCA) to its location with X marking the spot on a map. The scheme was foiled after the NCA uncovered incriminating messages on encrypted EncroChat which had been cracked by French counterparts. Jack was arrested in May 2023 at Malaga Airport by officers from the Spanish National Police while he was travelling to Turkey. The house in Tamworth, near Birmingham He was extradited to the UK where he pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess firearms and ammunition. But in December last year, Judge Philip Katz KC accepted he was more of an 'enthusiastic messenger' than an 'organiser' as he sentenced him to three years and one month in prison. Effectively Because he had already effectively served his time on remand, the sentence secured Jack's release from Belmarsh prison, from where he appeared by video-link for his sentencing. Judge Katz told him: 'Although I accept you got involved out of misguided loyalty to your father, you entered into this agreement with your eyes open.' Unlike, Thomas Kavanagh, who was 'a notorious and leading member of an organised crime group', the defendant had no previous convictions and was a young man of good character, the court was told. Now, seven months after gaining his freedom, and as fresh financial woes were heaped on Bomber this week when the Crown Prosecution Service hit him with a €1.26 million proceeds of crime bill, Jack has taken the first steps towards building his own legal enterprise. Company documents show Jack – whose nationality is registered as Irish – registered Oakline Roofing Limited as a new company with him as its sole director on June 29. The company is one of three companies headquartered out of Bomber's family home in Sutton Road, Mile Oak, Tamworth. Two other companies, a security company and a car sale company, are shown as being headquartered at the same address. The Sunday World previously revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service had imposed a freezing order on any sale of the fortified Tamworth Property pending the outcome of the proceeds of crime probe into his activities. Kavanagh, 57, who headed UK operations for the mob and cartel lieutenant 'Flash' Gary Vickery, 42, were present to hear the outcome of the proceed of crime probe hearing in Ipswich Crown Court on Friday morning. Looking tanned and trim in a dark grey T-shirt as he sat in an interview room in Belmarsh prison, Kavanagh listened on with his arms folded as the hearing went through his assets. Officers estimated that Kavanagh's criminal profits were in the region £12.2m, but recoverable assets amounted to £1,123,096.84. 'This includes his 50% share of his fortified family mansion in Tamworth, Staffordshire, money from the sale of various other properties in the UK and a villa in Spain, and approximately £150,000 of high-end bags, clothes and accessories which were discovered when Kavanagh's house was searched following his initial arrest in 2019,' they said. Jack Kavanagh (left) and father Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th
Irish Post
18 hours ago
- Irish Post
Head of Kinahan gang in Britain ordered to pay £1.1m or face extra 12-year sentence
THE HEAD of the Kinahan gang in Britain has been ordered to pay more than £1m or face an extra 12 years in prison. Irishman Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, 57, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 for orchestrating the importation of multi-million-pound drug shipments with a street value of around £30m. Two years later, he was handed an additional sentence after admitting firearms offences. Kavanagh has now been ordered to stump up more than £1.1m following a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Another high-ranking member of the gang, 43-year-old Gary Vickery, has been ordered to pay back £109,312.90 within three months or face another two years in prison. "We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to target, disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups, deprive them of their assets and ensure they face justice," said Kay Mellor, Head of Operations HQ at the NCA. Fortified mansion Vickery was arrested in October 2017 after NCA officers seized 15kg of cocaine and more than 220kg of cannabis found inside a six-tonne industrial tarmac removal machine in Dover. Subsequent investigations showed Kavanagh was heading up the criminal enterprise, and he was arrested at Birmingham airport as he returned from holiday in January 2019. Following his sentencing, NCA investigators began looking into the gang's finances and assets for seizure under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Officers estimated that Kavanagh's criminal profits were in the region £12.2m, but recoverable assets amounted to £1,123,096.84. This included his 50 per cent share of his fortified family mansion in Tamworth, Staffordshire, money from the sale of various other properties in Britain and a villa in Spain, and approximately £150,000 of high-end bags, clothes and accessories which were discovered when his house was searched following his initial arrest in 2019. Vickery, originally from Dublin, was also subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing. At previous hearings, orders were made to forfeit an Audemars Piguet watch worth £75,000, as well as just over €100,000 that was seized from a hotel room when Vickery was arrested. In October 2024, Kavanagh admitted additional firearms offences and perverting the course of justice after NCA officers uncovered a plan that Kavanagh hoped would reduce his prison sentence. Kavanagh directed associates Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne to purchase firearms and ammunition and bury them so he could reveal their whereabouts to NCA investigators. All three were jailed for a total of 17 years, with Kavanagh's six years to be served on top of his 21-year sentence. 'Untouchable' "Thomas Kavanagh was the head of the UK's arm of the Kinahan organised crime group, responsible for the importation and distribution of drugs and firearms, making millions of pounds in the process," added Ms Mellor. "He and his gang believed they were untouchable, but that proved to be their downfall. "Kavanagh and Vickery will be behind bars for many years to come and now have to pay back more than £1m to the state." See More: Kinahan Organised Crime Group, Thomas Kavanagh
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Inside Fred & Rose West's sordid house of horrors where kids slept above dead bodies & were made to do the unthinkable
A FORGOTTEN interview with the son of evil serial killers Fred and Rose West has revealed the torture he suffered at the hands of his parents. This includes sleeping above the bodies of their victims buried under the cellar. 9 Mugshots of evil killers Fred and Rose West, who were arrested in 1994 Credit: PA:Press Association Images 9 The Wests' 'house of horrors' in Cromwell Street, Gloucester Credit: PA:Press Association 9 The victims were found buried in the creepy cellar Credit: SWNS:South West News Service The previously unpublished accounts of Barry West give a harrowing insight into what it was like growing up in Britain's House of Horrors. In 1994 the couple were arrested and charged - with Fred taking his own life the following January in prison, while Rose was sentenced to 10 life terms with a whole life order. Journalist and author Howard Sounes has shared his unearthed interview with Barry, two years before he died of an overdose in 2020, aged 40, for the first time. READ MORE NEWS 'My dad was a solid monster,' Barry told Sounes, reports 'But she [Rose] was a complete psycho. That's what people don't know: My mum was, child abuse-wise, the main person. "My mum was completely sick in the head. She beat me way more than my dad did, and enjoyed it, absolutely enjoyed it.' The West children were made to sleep in the cellar of the family's home in Cromwell Street, Gloucester, under which they buried many of their victims. Most read in The Sun Sometimes they were strapped to their beds - and Rose wore a the cellar keys around her neck like a prison guard. The evil mum would regularly snap and lash out - hitting and slapping, as well as stabbing and strangling her kids. Her weapon of choice was often a novelty giant wooden spoon, which she'd wield like a baseball bat. Pathetic last days of Rose West revealed as serial killer monster can barely walk, has no friends & has new fake identity Barry told Sounes his nose is "on a slant" due to the amount of times Rose broke it, and has "massive scars" on the back of his head where he was struck over and over again. He went on to describe the "intense enjoyment" his mum got out of "beating the s*** out of me". Barry recalls how one Christmas Day he hid some sprouts in a tissue on the back of a chair, and when Rose found them days later she forced him to eat the rotting vegetables. He said she put her hand over his mouth and made him swallow his own sick. LIVES LOST: The victims of Fred and Rose West Anna McFall The nanny of Fred and Rena West's children, McFall was believed to have been murdered in 1967. She was pregnant when she died, with West believed to have been the father. Her body was found in June 1994 in a shallow grave. Fred West denied murdering McFall but he is said to have confided to a visitor after his arrest that he stabbed her following an argument. This happened before Rosemary West met him. Charmaine West With Fred in prison for the theft of car tyres and a vehicle tax disc, Rosemary was left to look after eight-year-old Charmaine. A neighbour is said to have found Charmaine tied to a wooden chair with her hands behind her back with Rosemary standing with a large wooden spoon. Rosemary claimed she'd been taken by her mother Rena but her skeleton was found at the Midland Road property, hidden and missing bones. Rena West Rena is believed to have been murdered by strangulation to avoid an investigation into Charmaine's whereabouts. Rosemary was not charged for this murder. Lynda Gough Lynda Gough, 21, was the first sexually motivated killing conducted by the Wests. She moved into Cromwell Street in April 1973, having had affairs with several lodgers. The Wests later claimed she'd been asked to leave after hitting one of their children. Strangulation and suffocation were the likely causes of death. Carol Ann Cooper Cooper was murdered in November 1973 aged just 15. She was allowed to spend the night at her grandmother's house before a doctor's appointment the next morning. But she somehow ending up on Cromwell Street and was killed by the couple. Her body was found more than twenty years later. Lucy Partington A 21-year-old medieval English student at Exeter University, she returned home for Christmas in December 1973. She left a friend's house in a rush to get the last bus from Cheltenham to Gretton on 27 December, and was abducted. She was found more twenty years later, her dismembered body in the cellar of Cromwell Street. Therese Siegenthaler A 21-year-old Swiss sociology student at Woolwich Polytechnic. She had planned to hitch-hike to Ireland in Easter 1974. Her family reported her missing having not heard from her for some time. Prosecution believe she was abducted before being killed, with Fred West later building a fake chimney over her grave. Shirley Hubbard Just 15 at the time of her death, Hubbard is believed to have been abducted by the Wests. Her body was found following an excavation in the concrete and plastic membrane of the cellar floor. Juanita Mott In the summer of 1974, Mott, 19, moved into 25 Cromwell Street but later went missing when she was living in Newent. Her body was found in March 1994, 19 years later, with West having concreted over the floor of the cellar. Shirley Robinson The first victim buried outside the house, Robinson had an affair with Fred West, and by autumn 1977, she was pregnant with his child. It was initially claimed the 18-year-old had moved to Scotland but her body was later found. When questioned, Rosemary West, herself pregnant with her daughter Tara at the time of the murder, claimed she did not remember her, which was described as 'ludicrous' by the prosecution. Alison Chambers The last murder with a sexual motive established. She disappeared just before her 17 th birthday, having been seen at 25 Cromwell Street throughout the summer. Her body was buried underneath the patio. Heather West The first child born to Fred and Rosemary West, there is no evidence the 16-year-old was aware of the killings. Sexually abused by her parents and having told friends, she suddenly went missing in 1987, with Rosemary claiming she had gone to Wales to be with a lesbian partner. The couple would joke to their other children that they would 'end up under the patio like Heather' if they misbehaved. This - and Fred's abuse of his other daughter - led to the search warrants for the property, and subsequently to their arrests. Barry and his brothers were forced to grow their hair long and wore their sisters' hand-me-downs to school - while their sisters were made to cut their hair short and wear boys' shoes. He said he and all his siblings had speech impediments growing up, a sign of child abuse. Barry would get his "face punched in" at school every day, but was scared to go home. He recalled how Fred would constantly talk about sex in front of his kids and about wanting to take his daughters' virginity, as well as the family tradition of incest, and sex with animals. 9 The Wests forced their kids to sleep in the cellar 9 Rose took joy in beating her children Credit: PA:Press Association 9 Police digging up the garden at the property in Gloucester, where their victims were buried Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Fred's main ambition was to see Rose mounted by a bull. Barry said he was forced into sexual situations with his mum aged eight or nine. The kids were often forced to make phone bookings for "Mandy" - Rose's prostitute alias, and Barry was even offered as an extra for clients. A "giant man" became a regular who would rape Barry at the house. He said the children were even made to watch homemade porn featuring their mum and she kept different underwear in labelled jars for each client. There is a chance, according to some reports, that Fred was not Barry's biological father at all, and he was the product of an incestuous relationship between Rose and her own dad Bill Letts. He had allegedly abused her since she was a child, and regularly visited the Cromwell Street house, according to Rose's notes from prison. The Wests' murder victims were usually attacked and killed, then often dismembered in the family bathroom. Most of their children maintained they had no idea what was going on. How horror unfolded JANUARY 1968: Mary vanishes aged 15 while waiting for a bus to meet her boyfriend. FEBRUARY 1968: Scotland Yard detectives called in to investigate Mary's disappearance return to London with no sign of her. FEBRUARY 1994: Police search garden at Fred and Rose West's home, 25 Cromwell St, Gloucester, over their teenage daughter Heather's disappearance. Nine bodies are found and Fred West is charged with murder. Police are then informed of a potential link to Mary's disappearance and the café. APRIL 1994: Rose West is charged with murder. JANUARY 1995: Fred West kills himself in jail while awaiting trial for 12 murders. NOVEMBER 1995: Rose convicted of ten murders, including Fred's step-daughter from previous marriage Charmaine, pictured, who vanished aged eight. JANUARY 2012: Police reject a petition by Mary's friends to search café. MAY 2021: TV documentary makers find new evidence of Mary's remains at café. Police begin a dig at the scene. One child, who Sounes does not identify, however, claimed years later they were locked in a cupboard under the stairs and could hear shouting and screaming. When they came out, fresh concrete had been poured in the cellar, they claimed. Barry said the children didn't run away because they considered their dad "like God" who would "find you". His older sister Heather vanished aged 16 in 1987 after saying she wanted to leave the house - before later being found dismembered under the patio. It was a long-running family "joke" that Heather was buried in the garden which became a sick reality when police diggers later moved in. However, Barry recalled how he once tried to kill Fred with a screwdriver when he was 11, but his dad just laughed at him. But they did get some revenge on Rose by banding together as she came at them with the wooden spoon. It was when the police investigation had begun into the Wests had begun and just before the children were put into care. They piled on top of their mum and she hit them until she was "knackered" and then "broke down", with Barry saying it was the first time they "saw weakness". 9 The house was eventually demolished Credit: PA:Press Association 9 Fred took his own life in prison prior to being sentenced and Rose continues to serve a whole life order Credit: Rex Features 9 Ten of the West's young victims
