Overview
- Thomas McKenna, 60, ran a covert workshop in Buckles Lane, South Ockendon, converting Turkish Ceonic blank‑firing pistols and making improvised explosives for sale to organised crime.
- He was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court to 16 years’ imprisonment with a five‑year extended licence, while partner Tina Smith received a custodial sentence for firearms, explosives and terrorism offences.
- A 10‑month Metropolitan Police investigation dismantled a 10‑member network and recovered 14 firearms, with Counter Terrorism Policing brought in after IEDs and manuals were discovered.
- Customers Allan Crosby and Ryan Smith were jailed for 10 years and seven‑and‑a‑half years respectively, and six others — including Faisal Razzaq — are due to be sentenced on 26 February.
- Digital evidence showed far‑right, anti‑Muslim messaging about a “race war,” and seizures included viable IEDs, more than four kilograms of explosive precursors, a gun disguised as a torch and deactivated rifles under study for conversion.