Extremist Bomb-Maker Sentenced After Police Uncover Weapons Factory in UK's Largest Traveller Site
Dramatic bodycam footage has revealed the moment armed police officers detained an extremist bomb-maker who was stockpiling weapons in preparation for a self-declared 'race war'. Thomas McKenna, a 60-year-old lorry driver, was arrested at his caravan compound in South Ockendon, Essex, following a major counter-terrorism operation.
Illegal Weapons Supply Chain Uncovered
The Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, SO15, raided McKenna's Buckles Lane compound in November 2024, uncovering an extensive illegal weapons supply chain stretching across London and the South East. The site, originally authorised in the 1940s for travelling showmen with approximately 31 caravan pitches, had been unlawfully expanded to 111 pitches and was housing more than 1,000 people at the time of the raid.
Inside McKenna's caravan, officers discovered a fully equipped workshop where blank-firing pistols imported from Turkey were being converted into lethal firearms. Police recovered gunpowder, homemade explosives, and extremist material revealing McKenna's links to extreme right-wing anti-Muslim ideology.
Race War Communications Revealed
Prosecutor Emily Dummett told Kingston Crown Court that McKenna had been 'stockpiling explosives, firearms and improvised explosive devices for, as in [his] communications, a race war to fight and kill the Muslims, the immigrants, and so on.' In text messages to associates, McKenna wrote: '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***ing lot of them.'
McKenna's girlfriend, 55-year-old bus driver Tina Smith, shared similar views, writing in her own text: 'They have to be gone from this country. Shoot them all.' Both admitted terrorism offences alongside firearms and explosives charges.
Sophisticated Weapons Operation
Police recovered six Ceonic pistols converted to fire live ammunition from locations including the caravan park, Edgware, Harrow, Stanmore and Maidstone. Additional discoveries included:
- A single shot gun disguised as a torch
- Replicas of an AK47 and Sten Mark II sub-machine gun
- Two improvised explosive devices made from plastic fish feeders
- 4kg of gunpowder with DNA linked to Tina Smith
- Ingredients to make black powder including potassium nitrate and sulphur
The improvised explosive devices contained gunpowder, bullets as explosive charges, and one device included seven rounds of ammunition and screws to function as shrapnel. Experts confirmed the devices were viable if a means of detonation was added.
Wider Criminal Network
Car salesmen Allan Crosby and Ryan Smith, both 40, were also convicted of firearms offences as part of the conspiracy. Crosby additionally admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply. The pair ran Sterling Sports and Prestige Ltd, a high-end car dealership in Kent, where a converted pistol and expanding ammunition were discovered during police searches.
Forensic tests showed weapons and ammunition recovered from the car dealership had been made in an identical way to those produced at McKenna's workshop. Toolmark analysis confirmed McKenna's handiwork by comparing marks on converted parts to tools found in his caravan.
Extremist Material and Manuals
Among the material seized were handbooks including 'The DIY Sten', which provides a guide to producing a Sten machine gun using scrap metal. McKenna and Smith also possessed YouTube videos on how to produce gunpowder, a US Army handbook on producing improvised explosives, and another manual called 'Poor Man's James Bond'.
Prosecutors said McKenna sent associates numerous texts exhorting them to arm up and prepare for 'war'. In one message from February 2024, using British military terminology, he wrote: 'I don't understand why we're not slotting them [Muslims]. I think it will happen this year.'
Defence Arguments and Sentencing
Hossein Zahir KC, representing McKenna, argued that the firearms offences were at the lower end of the scale as the guns were 'not hard to convert' and 'unsophisticated'. He described McKenna's texts about a 'civil war' involving migrants and Muslims as 'fantasies', saying: 'He doesn't desire such an outcome - but rather he believes it is an inevitability brought about by others.'
Charles Langley KC, for Tina Smith, said while she admitted making some black powder and knew it might be used for ammunition, there was 'insufficient' evidence to show she knew it was being used in IEDs. However, Judge Peter Lodder KC responded: 'I find it implausible that she did not know.'
A psychiatric report identified Smith as being 'dependent and compliant' in relationships due to past trauma, describing her as 'vulnerable'. She has no previous convictions.
National Security Implications
The National Crime Agency has warned that organised crime gangs are increasingly converting blank-firing pistols imported from Turkey into viable weapons. A Crown Prosecution Service source confirmed McKenna and Smith were linked to anti-Muslim extremism but acted independently and were not part of any recognised group.
The hearing revealed that McKenna, Crosby and Ryan Smith had been banned from possessing ammunition following previous offences. All six converted Ceonic pistols were examined by experts and test-fired, with each deemed viable. Some were even loaded with live ammunition when recovered.
The sentencing hearing is set to resume on February 6, with defence arguments yet to be heard for Crosby and Ryan Smith. The case highlights ongoing concerns about the conversion of blank-firing weapons and the threat posed by individuals stockpiling arms for extremist purposes in the United Kingdom.
