The science of fear
HOW RUTHLESS CRIME BOSS LIVING THE HIGH LIFE WAS FINALLY SNARED
CLASH Of The Clans by awardwinning investigative crime journalist Nicola Tallant is a story that traces the emergence of the Kinahan mafia from the streets of Dublin to the highest echelons of international organised crime, even extending their influence into the heart of boxing through the nowdefunct MTK Global promotions company.
In April, the US Treasury took the major step of imposing sanctions on the mafia group leader Daniel Kinahan. The move came a month after one of his main right-hand men in the UK, Tamworth-based Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh was brought to justice...
Living the high life
One of the most feared gangsters in modern criminal history, Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh had been on the garda radar for decades and was known as a ruthless drug boss who studied the science of fear.
His wife Joanne had married Bomber when he was just starting out in the drugs game back in Ireland. They relocated to Bimingham – where they set up a car business – after he became one of the first targets of the Criminal Assets Bureau when it was formed in 1996 following the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin by a crime gang.
There, he teamed up with two drug-dealing cousins, James Mulvey in Solihull and Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh, back in Dublin. Together, they became key suppliers of product into Ireland and the UK, with Kinahan drugs and weapons.
Bomber’s home was a mansion fit for a Premiership footballer and it stood large and elegant in its own grounds, fronted with landscaped gardens and a sweeping driveway behind electric gates.
Holidays were spent in Mexico, Dubai and in their summer home in Majorca, where the couple partied every August with associates from the criminal underworld. Joanne had spent her 40th birthday in Las Vegas with a huge group of girl pals, all expenses paid courtesy of her adoring husband.
Sources said Bomber was running millions of euros of Kinahan drugs and weapons into Ireland and laundering money through his motor firm, and that he was the most significant figure in organised crime next to Daniel Kinahan.
Coaching his fear philosophy
For Bomber, the business of understanding fear was as important as knowing the cost of a kilo of cocaine and he studied the psychology of it with gusto.
He liked to pass his knowledge down the line, so his underlings could hold their own and, during his coaching sessions, he would describe the “states of fear” of a human being and how to reach the levels. A thin line existed, he explained, between controlling someone and making them so frightened they became paralysed and useless.
Bomber was later arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency as he stepped off a flight from Majorca after a family holiday.
During a search, a pink stun-gun had been found at his home in Tamworth, and a stint in custody gave the wider probe into his drug and money laundering network a bit of breathing space.
In one picture taken during a raid on his home, between his bedside locker and the bed, 30 weapons including baseball bats, an extendable baton, a cosh, knives, a hatchet, an axe and swords were laid out. The pictures showed the bedroom itself furnished with ornate cream and gold dressing tables, lockers and a bed in Louis XII style.
A stiff sentence
Bomber had received a sentence in relation to the stun-gun, but in prison he had been taken from his cell and informed that he was also to be charged with major weapons and drug dealing offences.
Bomber had taken so ill during the arrest that he had to be rushed to hospital – such was the shock and gravity of his situation.
At Ipswich Crown Court, Justice Martyn Levett told Kavanagh the fact that a business had been used as cover, machinery had been transformed to carry drugs and cash undetected by customs’ X-rays, the very substantial gains, high purity of the cocaine seized and the significant effort that went in to avoiding detection all went against him and his criminal lieutenants.
The judge sentenced him to 21 years in prison.
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In one picture taken during a raid on his home, between his bedside locker and the bed, 30 weapons including baseball bats... a hatchet, an axe and swords were laid out.
Clash Of The Clans, RRP £8.99 for just £5 mirrorbooks.co.uk