Associate of Kinahan mobster Liam Byrne wishes him happy birthday and says it will be his last behind bars
by Paul Healy · Irish MirrorAn associate of jailed Kinahan mobster Liam Byrne has wished him a happy birthday - claiming it will be his last one behind bars.
Nathan “Biggie” Little, who was named by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in the High Court as being a low-level member of the 'Byrne Organised Crime Group', posted a photo of himself with Liam, claiming he didn’t have long left to serve.
It comes after Byrne, 44, was sentenced earlier this month to five years in prison for his role in a bizarre plot to import firearms and have the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) find them - in order to try and secure cartel boss Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh a lighter sentence.
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“Happy birthday Liam. Last one away. Not long left,” Little posted to social media on Wednesday. However, it is likely Byrne will have to spend at least one more birthday in prison - even though he does have a relatively short amount of time left to serve in London’s Belmarsh Prison.
Over the years Little has also been regularly photographed in the company of Liam Byrne’s son Lee - who he regards as a close pal, and with famous footballer and manager Steven Gerrard - both of whom have no involvement in criminality.
Liam Byrne, 44, himself a powerful figure in the Kinahan cartel, was jailed for his role in trying to acquire firearms from anywhere he could find them after he was caught doing so in secret encrypted conversations that were hacked in 2021.
The plot was designed so that investigators would find a cache of 11 powerful weapons hidden in a field in Newry, Co Down in May 2021 following a ‘tip off’ from Kavanagh, who met officers and told them about it from behind bars while awaiting sentence for importing drugs. Byrne was seen clapping his hands together and smiling from ear to ear when the news finally dawned on him that his sentence effectively means he could be freed by next Christmas.
Crumlin crony Byrne was initially confused and held his hands up in disbelief after presiding Judge Philip Katz handed him down a five-year sentence. Kavanagh, meanwhile, was seen arguing with a prison officer and dismayed from a separate room in the same jail. However, it emerged that Byrne, in fact, will only be required under UK law to serve half the five-year sentence - just 2.5 years - and with time already served on remand, he is, in fact, set to be freed in just 14 months time.
Judge Katz granted Byrne credit for some 192 days that he spent in Spanish custody last year awaiting extradition - and he can automatically be assumed to be credited for the 10 months he spent in UK custody awaiting trial. It means that Byrne could expect release after just under 14 months - news which clearly delighted his son Lee, who posted to Instagram: “Get in there. I love you Da. See you soon.”
The news for his brother in law ‘Bomber’ is as not as good however - as the notorious mob boss received a consecutive six-year sentence - to be served only after he has concluded a 21-year sentence for conspiracy to import €36 million of cocaine and cannabis, an additional three-year sentence for possession of a stun gun and several months for a previously suspended fraud charge.
The total of 24 years Bomber is already serving is also cut in half under UK law - and since being incarcerated in 2019, he has already served five years behind bars since his sensational arrest at Birmingham airport. This means that Kavanagh effectively has seven and a half years left to serve of those sentences, before he then takes on the six year sentence, which is also cut in half to three years.
It means that even though Kavanagh received total headline sentences of 30 years - he can expect release in 10 years' time, when he is 67 years old. Following sentencing, the National Crime Agency (NCA) issued new mugshots of Byrne, Bomber and co-accused man Shaun Kent - who was jailed to six years in prison for his role in the conspiracy.
They also issued pictures of more of the powerful fully-loaded weapons that were found among the cache in Newry in May 2021. Kent, too, has served over three years on remand, and thanks to that, he can expect to be imminently released.
In a statement following sentencing, the NCA said the three men engaged in “an elaborate plot” to acquire firearms to help ‘Bomber,” who they called “the head of an organised crime group” achieve a lighter sentence. While on remand, they said Kavanagh “set in motion a series of events that he hoped would result in a significant discount to any sentence he was likely to get at the end of his trial”.
He sought the assistance of “trusted associates” Shaun Kent, 38, from Liverpool and Liam Byrne, 44, originally from Dublin, directing them via a fellow inmate in prison to purchase firearms and ammunition and bury them, so he could reveal their whereabouts to NCA investigators.
“Kavanagh's plan was to fool the authorities into believing his assistance was genuine, so he would be rewarded for helping,” the NCA said. “But after the takedown of the encrypted communication platform Encrochat, the intricate scheme was uncovered. Over the course of 18 months, at Kavanagh's direction, Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne began contacting associates to acquire various weapons and ammunition."
The NCA detailed how the gang used nicknames on encrypted messages - some of which were revealed in court - such as “liquid Byrne,” and “Gargle” for Liam Byrne. The NCA said Byrne and Kent “discussed at length how they could get hold of the weapons, and how they could get them buried in a location set out by Kavanagh, despite being in the middle of the Covid pandemic and lockdown”.
Messages included Kent messaging Byrne saying Kavanagh had asked him to pass on a message to 'keep on about locating them things [firearms] for him mate. He added: "he said try get as many of them as you can... only chance he's got on getting good result out of this case mate."
The court had heard how an “increasingly frustrated” Kavanagh was pressuring associates to secure weapons by whatever method possible - and Kent had even warned Byrne that their boss would “start cracking heads” if they didn’t find them. The NCA said the “urgent messages” continued and at one stage stated that Kavanagh was "under massive pressure and time's against him".
Through legal representation, deluded Kavanagh sent the NCA a map in April 2021, which ultimately led them and the PSNI to the cache of weapons in two hold-all bags in Newry. The NCA stated that their officers were “then able to work backwards, using the Encrochat messages in their possession, to evidence the conspiracy and Kavanagh's elaborate plan to bury weapons and ammunition”.
Shaun Kent was the first man to be arrested in March 2021 - and officers at the time recovered £5,000 in cash. Kavanagh was then arrested at HMP Norwich in August 2021 and he and Kent were charged with firearms offences and perverting the course of justice in August 2023.
The NCA also pursued Byrne - but the mobster fled the UK and a major effort was then launched to arrest him in the Alcudia area of Mallorca in June 2023. He spent six months in prison there fighting his extradition - before being sent back to the UK and escorted by officers straight to court. The men initially pleaded not guilty and were going towards an eight-week jury trial before they pleaded guilty the day before it was due to begin on September 18.
Speaking following sentence, the NCA’s Branch Commander Ty Surgeon said: "At the instruction of their leader Thomas Kavanagh, Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne orchestrated a cynical and dangerous plot to plant a cache of weapons so Kavanagh could direct the NCA to them and reduce his time in prison.
"These weapons were viable and deadly weapons that were in the hands of a criminal gang, loaded and ready for use in criminality. What this group didn't know is their Encrochat messages had been unveiled for law enforcement to see, showing every detail of their plan.
"The NCA's mission is to protect the public from serious and organised crime, and as this case shows, we will pursue every avenue, including overseas, to ensure criminals are brought to justice."
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