Lorry driver who prepared for 'race war' jailed

A lorry driver who converted blank-firing pistols into lethal weapons for criminals at the same time he was preparing for what he called a "race war" has been jailed for a minimum of 16 years.

Thomas McKenna, 60, had set up a gun-conversion factory in a caravan on a travellers' site in South Ockenden, Essex.

There, McKenna, who is originally from Glasgow, used a lathe and drills to convert pistols into live guns, painting them black, and sold them to organised crime groups in and around London.

Police say he was a key supplier of firearms to criminals and, since his arrest, the number of shootings in London using converted firearms has fallen significantly.

McKenna was also stockpiling guns, explosives and homemade grenades for what he said was a "race war" against Muslims that he believed was coming.

One of the people who bought his guns was Faisal Razzaq, 44, who was in the getaway car used in the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky.

Beshenivsky was shot at point blank range after interrupting an armed robbery at a travel agents in Bradford, in November 2005.

McKenna's partner Tina Smith, was also jailed at Kingston Crown Court for six years with a further custodial sentence of 12 months.

Two of the men he sold weapons to - Allan Crosby, 44, and Ryan Smith, 44, - were jailed for 10 years, and seven and a half years respectively.

Judge Lodder KC said it was clear that McKenna was a "dangerous" individual, who had played a "vital and leading role in serious criminal enterprise".

He said while Tina Smith was "in the thrall of McKenna" it was implausible that she did not know what was happening in McKenna's operations.

When police raided McKenna's homes, officers found two homemade explosive devices, one filled with bullets and screws.

They were hidden in a jug in the caravan where McKenna and Tina Smith lived and counter-terrorism detectives and a bomb disposal team were called in.

When detectives looked at McKenna's electronic devices they discovered he was stockpiling weapons and explosives in preparation for what he called a "race war".

Det Ch Insp James Tipple said: "McKenna had a very anti Muslim-sentiment and had sent messages to friends and associates saying he was collecting the weapons in anticipation of their violent use to 'kill' or 'shoot' Muslims, in his words."

He was advising his friends to buy crossbows, and police discovered a hunting knife, throwing axes, and knuckledusters in his caravan.

Detectives found a series of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant messages from McKenna.

"They have flooded our lands, it's a hostile takeover," he messaged a friend on TikTok.

On the messaging app Signal he wrote: "I believe we need to hit them first ASAP."

And to another contact he wrote: "We just kill them all. Easier now than later."

Police learnt about McKenna's racist obsessions and uncovered what they say was one of the most significant illegal gun-supply networks of recent years after officers stopped a car on its way to the Notting Hill Carnival in August 2024.

In the vehicle, officers found a Turkish blank firing pistol, that had been converted to fire real hollow-point bullets, some of which were also found in the car.

It was being driven by an associate of Razzaq, who ran a luxury car hire business but also had extensive contacts in London's criminal world.

Police had continued to keep tabs on Razzaq after he had been released on parole from his life sentence for his involvement in the death of Beshenivsky.

A raid on his home in Harrow uncovered a converted gun hidden in a secret compartment in a makeshift wardrobe.

DNA and fingerprint evidence on the gun led police to McKenna, who had three caravans on the South Ockenden travellers' site.

He shared one of the caravans with his partner Tina Smith who worked as a bus driver.

A raid in Mereworth, Kent later that month uncovered another of McKenna's converted guns and more hollow-point bullets at a commercial premises run by Allan Crosby and Ryan Smith.

They both have convictions for dealing cocaine, and they met in prison.

On 6 November 2024, police moved in to arrest McKenna. A massive operation was launched on the South Ockendon site involving three forces, firearms officers and drones, and ultimately the counter-terrorism officers and an army bomb disposal team.

Tipple, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation, said the raid had an immediate effect.

"Since McKenna's arrest, we have seen significant reductions in the number of converted blank firearms involved in shootings in London," he said.

"That demonstrates the importance of McKenna in the supply of illegal firearms and why it was so crucial his criminal network was dismantled."

As well as buying blank-firing pistols and using his lathe and drills to convert them into working firearms, McKenna also purchased deactivated weapons including a Kalashnikov AK47 assault rifle and a Sten submachine gun, and was studying how to convert them back into functioning guns.

McKenna had pleaded guilty to 14 charges including firearms and explosives offences, and to collecting material that might be useful for terrorism.

Smith admitted five charges, also involving firearms, explosives and collecting terrorist material.

Crosby and Smith were convicted of three firearms offences. Crosby also admitted a fourth offence - possessing Class A drugs.

Other members of McKenna's network, Faisal Razzaq, Abdul Saleh, 32, brothers Ricky Dorey, 43 and Robert Dorey, 44, Patrick Loughnane, 59, and his partner Tammy Rigg, 39, will be sentenced on 26 February at Harrow Crown Court.

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