'Bomber's gun plot backfired'

>> Court told Kavanagh sourced weapons just to give to police in order to get lighter sentence >>Top Kinahan lieutenant now faces 'fresh charges after 'phone messages exposed his scheme'

-  JOHN HAND

SENIOR Kinahan cartel lieutenant Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh is accused of sourcing 11 firearms and telling cops their location in a bid to get a reduced sentence for drug trafficking.

The bombshell allegation was made at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London yesterday as Kavanagh, 55, appeared via video link from prison.

The investigation arose out of Kavanagh's previous case where he was jailed for overseeing a €36 million drug smuggling operation in the UK, for which he was handed down a 21-year sentence last year.

It is also linked to the same probe in which his son Jack Kavanagh and brother-in-law, senior Kinahan figure Liam Byrne, were arrested in Spain earlier in the summer.

Those two remain there as they fight their extradition cases.

Over video link from HM Prison Full Sutton, Kavanagh looked relaxed as he spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and prison number.

Kavanagh was charged with conspiring to possess a firearm without a certificate and conspiring to possess ammunition for a firearm without a certificate.