The son of a high-ranking figure in the Kinahan crime gang has admitted his role in a plot to lead police to a buried weapons cache in a bid to shorten his father’s jail term.

Jack Kavanagh, 24, from Tamworth in England is his son Thomas Kavanagh, a serving prisoner who orchestrated the plot with guns from his prison cell.

Thomas Kavanagh tried to influence his sentence by leading the National Crime Agency to a cache of weapons buried in a field outside Newry, Northern Ireland.

On Friday, Jack Kavanagh pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to possess a firearm and two counts of conspiracy to possess ammunition.

He appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from Belmarsh Prison, 10 days after his father was convicted of the same failed conspiracy.

Thomas Kavanagh, an Irish national, provided weapons information to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in May 2021.

They were led to a field where two bags of luggage were unearthed in a field in Jerrettspass, County Armagh.

The bags contained seven machine guns, three automatic pistols, an assault rifle and ammunition.

Thomas Kavanagh led the conspiracy from HMP Dovegate, where he is serving a three-year sentence for possessing a stun gun.

He was also remanded in custody on serious charges in a multi-million pound drug smuggling case, for which he expected a much longer sentence.

In a bid to reduce his jail time, Thomas Kavanagh enlisted the help of his son as well as his brother-in-law Liam Byrne, 44, from Dublin.

An associate of the crime boss, Shaun Kent, 38, from Liverpool, was also recruited into the plan to trick the NCA into finding the weapons.

The plot was foiled after the NCA discovered incriminating messages on the encrypted EncroChat service, which had been cracked by French authorities.

Thomas Kavanagh was later found guilty of drug smuggling and was sentenced to 21 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and cannabis in the UK.

last month, crime boss jailed for six more years over Newry gun plot to be executed consecutively to his existing term of 21 years.

Byrne was jailed for five years and Kent was jailed for six years.

Jack Kavanagh was extradited to the UK last month to face prosecution over the weapons plot.

He was arrested at Malaga airport by the Spanish National Police in May 2023 while traveling from Dubai to Turkey.

Following his guilty plea, the judge at the Old Bailey remanded him in custody to be sentenced on December 4.