Illegal Arms Factory Owner Jailed for 16 Years Over Race War Plot
An illegal arms and explosives manufacturer who supplied criminal gangs while stockpiling weapons for a planned 'race war' has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. Thomas McKenna, 60, secretly established a workshop at Britain's largest traveller camp, where he converted blank-firing pistols and manufactured hollow 'dum dum' bullets designed to maximise damage to targets.
Covert Workshop and Deadly Arsenal
McKenna operated from the Buckles Lane compound in South Ockendon, Essex, where armed police discovered a sophisticated illegal operation during a raid in November 2024. The workshop contained equipment for converting Turkish-made Ceonic P320 blank-firing pistols into live firearms. Authorities also recovered a single-firing shotgun disguised as a torch, replicas of an AK47 and Sten Mark II sub-machine guns that were likely intended for conversion, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), gunpowder, and ingredients for manufacturing additional bombs.
Extremist right-wing materials revealed that McKenna was not only selling munitions for profit but actively preparing for violent conflict against what he described as 'Muslims, the immigrants and so on'. Hate-filled text messages to associates included explicit calls for violence, with one stating: 'Our only course for survival freedom is strike now while we have the numbers and hard unalive the f****** lot of them'.
Criminal Network and Accomplice Sentences
McKenna, who officially worked as a lorry driver, was apprehended following police investigations into converted weapons being sold by Faisal Razzaq. Razzaq had previously received an 11-year sentence for his involvement as a getaway driver in the 2005 murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky during a Bradford travel agency robbery.
At Kingston Crown Court, McKenna pleaded guilty to 14 charges including converting firearms, possession of firearms and ammunition, conspiracy to sell weapons, attempting to manufacture explosives, and possessing terrorist material. Judge Peter Lodder KC described him as 'dangerous', noting: 'I am satisfied you were stockpiling weapons, including under your own bed, and that you entered hate filled and incendiary communications.' However, the judge acknowledged there was no evidence of planning for 'specific terrorist activity'.
Three accomplices received substantial sentences alongside McKenna. His girlfriend, Tina Smith, 55, admitted possessing a prohibited firearm, manufacturing explosives, and three terrorism offences, receiving a seven-year prison term. The judge noted she was 'in thrall' to McKenna and demonstrated 'enthusiastic involvement' in his crimes, with her racist messages revealing a 'poisonous and deeply unattractive character'.
Car salesmen Allan Crosby and Ryan Smith, both 40, whose high-end dealership Sterling Sports and Prestige Ltd in Kent was found with one of McKenna's converted pistols, received seven and ten years respectively. Crosby additionally pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
Extensive Weapons Recovery and Operational Details
The police operation, overseen by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command SO15, resulted in the seizure of six converted blank-firing pistols and nine guns ready for conversion. Additional discoveries included crossbows, knuckle dusters, hunting knives, and instructional handbooks for creating DIY weapons and explosives.
Two particularly concerning IEDs were found stored in a jar beside a bed. These devices, constructed from plastic fish feeders using bullets as explosive charges, contained ammunition and screws intended as shrapnel. Nearby, authorities discovered 4kg of gunpowder (black powder) and ingredients including 1kg of potassium nitrate for manufacturing more explosives.
Digital Evidence and Defence Arguments
Electronic device examinations revealed extensive vile communications via TikTok, Facebook, and Signal in which McKenna urged associates to arm themselves for racial conflict. Messages included statements like 'I don't understand why we're not slotting them [Muslims]' and 'I have a bunch of s***. I'm stockpiling. Hit them on the approach. Ambush them.'
During sentencing, McKenna's defence counsel Hossein Zahir KC argued the firearms offences were at the 'lower end of the scale' as the guns were 'not hard to convert' and 'unsophisticated'. He claimed the black powder manufacture was for 'experimental purposes' and the manuals were 'widely available on the internet'. Regarding the inflammatory messages, Zahir described them as 'fantasies', stating McKenna 'doesn't desire such an outcome - but rather he believes it is an inevitability brought about by others.'
Judge Lodder directly challenged this characterisation, noting: 'The communications are not about “I'm going to have an experiment” are they?'
Broader Implications and Warnings
Detective Chief Inspector James Tipple of the Met's Specialist Crime Command stated that dismantling this network led to 'significant reductions in the numbers of converted blank firearms involved in shooting in London'. He emphasised: 'It is extremely rare you take out an entire criminal network like this in one go.'
The National Crime Agency has issued warnings about organised crime gangs increasingly converting blank-firing pistols imported from Turkey into operational weapons, highlighting the ongoing threat such operations pose to public safety.
Seven additional gang members, including Faisal Razzaq, 44, are scheduled for sentencing at Harrow Crown Court next month, indicating the extensive reach of this criminal enterprise.
