A senior figure in the Kinahan organised crime gang has been jailed in the UK for three years for possessing a disguised firearm.
Thomas Kavanagh, 51, originally from Dublin, but living on Sutton Road in Tamworth, was convicted after a two day trial in Stoke-on-Trent.
A 10,000 volt stun gun disguised as a torch was found during a search at his home in Mile Oak.
Kavanagh told arresting officers that the stun gun had been brought by one of his sons during a school trip to China and that he had later confiscated it.
The conviction comes following a joint operation involving the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Unit and the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA).
Kavanagh was arrested at Birmingham Airport last January by NCA officers as part of a wider investigation with gardaí into money laundering, drugs and firearms supply in the UK and Ireland.
Originally from Dublin, Kavanagh has lived in the UK for the last 15 years in a heavily fortified mansion with bullet proof glass and a £130,000 Audi R8 Spyder parked in the drive.
It took police longer than usual to force their way into his home where they found an "array of weapons", most of them legal, scattered about.
The arsenal included a samurai sword, shillelagh, various knives, nunchucks, machetes, an axe and an extendable baton.
However, police also discovered a disguised firearm, which was a stun gun disguised as a torch.
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Kavanagh is a brother-in-law of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel three years ago.
His murder escalated the ongoing Hutch-Kinahan feud, that has so far cost 18 lives.
Kavanagh has previous convictions in Ireland for armed robbery, assault, fraud and making threats to kill.
Kavanagh could have received five years in prison, however Judge Paul Glenn said there were exceptional circumstances in that he has not been found to have committed a serious offence since 2001 and jailed him for three years.
Judge Glenn said that since 2001, the father-of-six had "made strides" to put his past behind him. But he added: "You're not someone with the benefit of a guilty plea or good character."
