Two senior figures in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group have been jailed in the UK for their roles in a plan to plant guns and ammunition to try to secure a lower sentence for the head of the gang in the UK.
Jack Kavanagh, 23, was sentenced to three years and one month while 43-year-old Peter Keating received a sentence of four years and eight months.
Keating will serve the sentence in Ireland alongside the 11-year jail sentence he is already serving for his role in the attempted murder of a rival Hutch Organised Crime Group member.
Jack Kavanagh is the son of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, who was jailed in the UK along with Liam Byrne for their roles in the plot to reduce Kavanagh's sentence for drug trafficking.
Peter or Peadar Keating became the fifth senior figure in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group to be jailed for his role in the plot to try to get a reduced sentence for Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, the head of the Kinahans' UK operation.
Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was facing a lengthy sentence for drug trafficking and tried to fool the National Crime Agency by collecting as many weapons as possible, including scorpion pistols, Heckler and Koch and submachine guns sourced from criminal networks.
He then told the NCA where they were hidden and the PSNI recovered them in Newry.
His brother-in-law and senior Kinahan gang member Liam Byrne, along with Shaun Kent from Liverpool, and Kavanagh’s own son Jack were also involved.
Jack Kavanagh used the handle BasilBadger on an encrypted phone and was referred to as Junior.
In one conversation he stressed the urgency of getting the guns because his father was in prison.
Keating in messages talked about how the guns were going to be moved, insisting his "man" would do it "his way" and "was not going to drive up an empty motorway at 5am" during the pandemic lockdown.
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He is already serving an 11-year jail sentence in Ireland for his role in the attempted murder of James 'Mago' Gately, a senior figure in the rival Hutch Organised Crime Group.
Kavanagh and Keating were extradited to the UK from Spain and Ireland respectively.
They were the last of the five to plead guilty and were sentenced - Kavanagh to three years and one month, Keating to four years and eight months which he will serve alongside his existing sentence in Ireland.
