Lorry driver who ran gun workshop and hoarded weapons for ‘race war’ jailed

A lorry driver who ran a workshop from his caravan converting blank-firing guns into deadly pistols to sell to organised crime groups, and stockpiled weapons in preparation for a “race war”, has been jailed for 16 years.

Thomas McKenna, 60, sent messages on TikTok telling friends and associates to “get yourself ready” and anticipated the weapons he had gathered would be used to kill or shoot Muslims.

Prosecutor Emily Dummett previously told Kingston Crown Court that McKenna wrote messages about plans to “kill”, “shoot”, “unalive” and “neutralise” Muslims and immigrants “before they are too many”.

“Bro, that’s why I believe our only course for survival freedom is strike now while we have the numbers and hard unalive the f****** lot of them,” he wrote in one message, the court heard.

He is thought to have been self-taught, running his makeshift gun conversion unit, with a lathe and a drill, from one of three caravans he had in Buckles Lane, South Ockendon, Essex.

Police found six reactivated blank-firing guns linked to McKenna, but officers believe he created more, and say since his arrest there has been “a significant reduction in the number of converted blank firearms involved in shootings across London”.

Scotland Yard detectives say McKenna’s enterprise played an important role in the supply of guns in the capital.

The lorry driver and his partner, Tina Smith, 55, pleaded guilty to a number of offences including collecting terrorist information and possessing banned guns.

McKenna also made improvised explosives containing black powder, nails and fishing hooks. He and his partner, a bus driver, are thought to have slept in the caravan that housed the weapons.

The couple and eight others have been convicted of involvement in the firearms conspiracy that distributed guns to gangs across London, with the 60-year-old sentenced to 16 years in custody with five years on extended licence at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

One member of the criminal network was Faisal Razzaq, the getaway driver in the fatal shooting of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky during a raid at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

When he was released from prison in 2017, Razzaq lived in Edgware, north London, and began running a luxury car hire business, but he spent most of his time obtaining guns and selling them to criminal customers.

One of Razzaq’s associates was stopped by armed police in Harrow as he drove to Notting Hill Carnival on August 26 2024, and officers found a bag in the car with a loaded firearm which was traced back to McKenna through fingerprint and DNA analysis.

Other weapons recovered from McKenna’s caravans included a 22-inch shotgun disguised as a torch, a hunting knife, throwing axes and a non-firing AK47.

Evidence from his online messages showed he was researching how to make the AK47 able to shoot ammunition again.

Police also found military clothing and a helmet.

Armed officers raided the three caravans in November 2024, and counter-terrorism police were called in to assist when they found homemade explosives and munitions guidebooks.

Police said evidence Tina Smith’s phone showed she had sent McKenna videos of her attempts to make black powder, followed by scathing replies from McKenna at her lack of expertise.

She was sentenced to seven years, with six to be served in custody, the CPS said.

Buyers of McKenna’s converted guns included Allan Crosby, 44, of Etfield Grove, Sidcup, south-east London, and Ryan Smith, 44, of Morants Court Road, Dunton Green, Kent, who were convicted of possession of firearms and modified ammunition.

Crosby was also convicted of possessing class A substances with intent to supply and was jailed for 10 years, while Ryan Smith was sentenced to seven and a half years.

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.

Robert Dorey had been released from prison on licence in May 2023 after serving a 16-year sentence for attempted murder.

Abdul Saleh, 32, of Edgware, helped Razzaq sell the guns, and Patrick Loughnane, 59, acted as a communication link between Ricky Dorey and McKenna.

Detectives found evidence that Razzaq, the Dorey brothers and Saleh were involved in the sale of 10 firearms, the Metropolitan Police said.

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

Razzaq admitted the same charge, and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life and two counts of possessing a firearm and ammunition when banned.

Loughnane’s partner Tammy Rigg agreed to store a converted firearm for him at her home in South Ockendon.

She pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without a certificate.

Razzaq, Saleh, the Dorey brothers, Loughnane and Rigg will be sentenced on February 26.

Detective Chief Inspector James Tipple said: “One of the clearest examples of the impacts of this case in reducing gun crime in London is since McKenna’s arrest, we’ve seen significant reduction in the number of converted blank firearms involved in shootings across London.

“This demonstrates the importance of McKenna in the illegal supply of firearms and why it was so crucial this criminal network was dismantled.

“I’m pleased to say that as a result of the excellent police investigation some of the most dangerous members of our society will be off the streets of London for a very long time.”

Bethan David, head of counter terrorism at the CPS, said: “Both McKenna and Smith held extremist anti-Muslim views. Their stockpiling of weapons and explosives was not simply criminal opportunism — it was fuelled by a belief in the inevitability of violent conflict.

“Today’s sentences reflect both the seriousness of their actions and the extremist motivations behind them.”