Kinahan associate Liam Byrne finds out exact date for trial over firearms and conspiracy charges
The case against the two Irishmen and their co-accused Jack Kavanagh, Shaun Kent and Daniel McLoughlin, is expected to last up to eight weeks.
Trusted Kinahan associate Liam Byrne and his brother-in-law Thomas Kavanagh will go on trial over firearms and conspiracy charges in two weeks.
A pre-trial hearing at London’s Old Bailey today heard that the case against the two Irishmen and their co-accused Jack Kavanagh, Shaun Kent and Daniel McLoughlin, is expected to last up to eight weeks.
The court heard from Counsel from all sides who discussed the possibility that the trial could run quicker than eight weeks. The trial is now set to open on Monday, September 16th.
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Liam Byrne, Jack Kavanagh, Shaun Kent, Thomas Kavanagh and Daniel McLoughlin are charged with conspiring to possess a firearm without a certificate, conspiring to possess ammunition for a firearm without a certificate, conspiring to possess a prohibited weapon and conspiring to possess prohibited ammunition.
Byrne, Kent, Thomas and Jack Kavanagh are additionally charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The accused men plead not guilty to the charges in March of this year.
The court previously heard that Kavanagh and Kent, are accused of conspiring with Liam Byrne, Jack Kavanagh and Peader Keating to commit a “series of acts, namely to possess firearms and thereafter hide them to reveal their whereabouts to the National Crime Agency.”
The court heard it is alleged they did so in order to try and enable Thomas Kavanagh to get a reduced prison sentence - with the intention to pervert the course of justice.
Byrne previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm without a certificate on May 28 2020, two charges of conspiracy to possess ammunition on that same day and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon between April 29 and May 28 2020. He also pleaded not guilty alongside Kavanagh and Kent to three charges of possession of a firearm without a certificate between January 9, 2020 and June 3, 2021.
They also together pleaded not guilty to four charges of possession of ammunition for a firearm between those same dates and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon. Shaun Kent then faced further charges of conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited ammunition and prohibited weapons - to which he pleaded not guilty.
In a previous court hearing Prosecuting barrister for the Crown Max Baines told the court that Liam Byrne is connected to two alleged firearms plots. "This is related to two firearms conspiracies connected by a common defendant, that being Mr Byrne,” he told the judge.
The court heard that Kent faces charges in the Manchester area that the prosecution now wishes to connect to this overall firearms conspiracy case. Mr Baines told the court that there are "overlapping messages" which are relied on and a clear "nexus" for the cases to be joined. The request to join those two cases together was granted by the presiding judge.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has alleged that it believes Byrne conspired with Kavanagh's son Jack and another man named Shaun Kent 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.”
The NCA previously released pictures of Liam Byrne in their custody after he was successfully extradited back from Spain.
Byrne, who is originally from Crumlin, was arrested in June when he was eating at a restaurant in the Alcudia area of Mallorca.
He had flown into Palma Airport from Dubai on May 26. The NCA’s intelligence led investigation was supported by the Spanish National Police and gardai.
His arrest came after officers obtained warrants - and after an investigation that was sparked from encrypted messages discovered on Encrochat. The NCA stated that the messages indicated that Byrne was “potentially involved in the supply and acquisition of firearms.”
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