Lorry driver made guns and prepared for a 'race war'

A lorry driver ran a gun-conversion workshop from a caravan, turning blank-firing weapons into lethal pistols for criminals while preparing for a so-called "race war", a court has heard.

Thomas McKenna, 60, converted the weapons using a lathe and drill inside one of three caravans at a large traveller site in Buckles Lane, South Ockendon, Essex, Kingston Crown Court was told.

Prosecutors said McKenna distributed the guns to a criminal network and sent messages urging others to "get yourself ready" and warning that "the time for protesting is over".

The court heard the network included Faisal Razzaq, who was the getaway driver in the fatal shooting of PC Sharon Beshenivsky in Bradford in 2005.

Prosecutor Emily Dummett told the court on the first day of sentencing that McKenna sent messages discussing plans to "kill", "shoot", "unalive" and "neutralise" Muslims and immigrants "before they are too many".

McKenna ran his gun conversion unit with a lathe and a drill, from one of three caravans he had at a large traveller site in Buckles Lane, South Ockendon, Essex.

He sent his partner, Tina Smith, 55, links to videos which showed how to make explosives.

The couple and eight others have been convicted for their involvement in a firearms conspiracy, with linked guns found across London and the South East.

McKenna also made improvised explosives containing black powder and shrapnel. He and his partner, a bus driver, are thought to have lived and slept in the caravan which housed the weapons.

Officers raided the three caravans in November 2024 and found two loaded guns and two improvised explosive devices.

Other weapons recovered from the caravans include a non-firing replica AK47, ammunition, crossbows, hunting knives and knuckle dusters.

Documents were also found including a handbook called Poor Man's James Bond, which experts say contained useful information for making explosives, the court heard.

Six reactivated blank-firing guns linked to McKenna have been recovered, but prosecutors believe he created more.

One of the converted pistols and ammunition was found at Razzaq's home in Edgware, north London, the court heard.

"Converted top-venting blank firing pistols are a popular choice for criminals," Ms Dummett said.

"They are easier to get hold of than original lethal purpose firearms, but can be used, in just the same way, to threaten, to seriously injure and to kill."

Mitigating, Hossein Zahir KC said it is "not hard to convert" the guns McKenna made viable.

He said McKenna's enterprise is "smaller scale and unsophisticated".

Prosecutors say Razzaq, 44, who was convicted of manslaughter for his role in the fatal raid at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005, received firearms for onward sale to criminal customers.

Other customers of McKenna's converted guns include Allan Crosby, 44, of Etfield Grove, Sidcup, and Ryan Smith, 44, of Morants Court Road, Dunton Green, Kent, who were convicted of possession of firearms and modified ammunitions.

They are being sentenced alongside Tina Smith who admitted four counts and McKenna, who has pleaded guilty to 14 counts.

The charges against the two include collecting terrorist information and possessing a prohibited firearm.

Tina Smith shared McKenna's mindset, prosecutors say, in one message writing: "Wow they have to be gone from this country, shoot them all."

McKenna's friend Ricky Dorey, 43, who lived on the same static caravan site, helped him find customers to buy the guns.

He and his brother Robert Dorey, 44, of Tilbury, Essex, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited firearms.

Patrick Loughnane, 59, acted as a communication link between Ricky Dorey and McKenna.

Abdul Saleh, 32, of Edgware, the Dorey brothers and Loughnane, of Hayes, west London, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell prohibited firearms.

Razzaq admitted the same charge, and five other counts.

Loughnane's partner Tammy Rigg pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without a certificate.

The sentencing hearing for McKenna, Tina Smith, Crosby and Ryan Smith is set to conclude on 6 February.

Razzaq, Saleh, the Dorey brothers, Loughnane and Rigg will be sentenced later next month.

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