Cartel boss faces jail for machine gun plot

Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh and two associates amassed a stockpile of guns so they could get the Kinahan cartel boss the ‘lightest possible sentence’ for cocaine smuggling, a court heard. Kavanagh, 57, his brother-in law Liam Byrne, 43, and Shaun Kent, 38, tried to dupe the National Crime Agency by obtaining a cache of firearms including seven machine guns. Kavanagh is currently serving a 21-year jail sentence for masterminding a €36m drug smuggling operation. While in custody awaiting sentence at Ipswich…