The Science of Fear - Stun Gun (Episode 8)
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How did a pink stun gun spark the raid on Bomber's Tamworth mansion?
The pink stun gun was sitting on top of a kitchen cupboard. At first glance, the metallic rose gold object looked almost toy-like, or maybe one of those burnished metal hair curlers. It would prove to be an illegal 10,000-volt weapon disguised as a torch. And for investigators, it was exactly the kind of small, ordinary mistake that can undo a very careful man. As an NCA officer would later say, it's the small things. The stun gun had been picked up by a gloved hand and twirled around by a mildly puzzled NCA detective and put in an evidence bag. The officer was part of a team who had driven through the gates of Bombers Mansion that day with a search warrant. It was January 12th, 2019. The Christmas bows were still on the gate of the lavish home.
In the driveway of the gated mansion in Mile Oak was an Audi R8 Spyder worth €145,000. Earlier that morning, at approximately 10 to 9, Kavanagh had been arrested at Birmingham airport carrying two mobile phones and a few grand in sterling and euro notes. Tanned and relaxed after a luxurious holiday with his entire family that had a price tag running into six figures. Now, while he sits in custody in his designer shorts, officers begin a 13-hour search of the property. Doors and ground floor windows have been reinforced, bullet-resistant glass, vault-like security. They find cash everywhere. £8,000 hidden behind sofa cushions, thousands more in a chest of drawers. A bundle of UAE dirhams worth around £9,000, casually tied with an elastic band.
Five figures stuffed into seven handbags around the house. In total, approximately £33,900 sterling, €13,600 and thousands in dollars were found on Cavanagh's person and property. They also seized multiple mobile phones and piles of documentation and receipts. We've already touched on the family's appetite for designer gear, but the sheer volume of material stunned officers during their search. It was a long day for Bomber's family as officers impounded their possessions. One NCA investigator remembers family members indignantly trying to reclaim clothes as they were being taken away.
And that's when things didn't get quite heated. And in this particular case, I mean, when we were going around the house and we were seizing all these items, a number of the family members were there and they were quite agitated, the fact that we were taking them. And we were leaving them with, you know, decent stuff. you know you leave them with a burghouse but we're taking them on cloud you know it's uh so we weren't leaving them with nothing but they were clearly not happy we were taking all these things and all these high-end sort of training shoes and designer bags etc from the address there was i remember there's quite a lot of sunglasses there as well and all things with a value
That same day, Kavanaugh is interviewed. He's questioned about his links to key figures in the drugs conspiracy, including Vickery, Canning and Byrne. He's asked about contact with European associate Emanuel Rosenzweig and a series of addresses. Investigators also put questions to him about a gathering of these individuals at the Hyatt Hotel in December 2016, which Vickery had attended and indeed booked, about telephone contact with Vickery and various telephone numbers. He largely declines to answer.
He was calm as a cucumber. He was really, you know, I know from conversations with the team, he was completely unfazed. completely unfazed by his arrest, his initial arrest, because I think he'd cleaned out. He knew that he had no devices that were relevant to what was going on in 2017. At the point where the NCA had evidence of his involvement, of his controlling involvement in the activity surrounding the 2017 seizure, We went forward with an arrest, but even at that stage, that was an arrest based on intelligence that we had on different devices, but we weren't in a position at that stage to ask the CPS to consider charges. And so it was purely an arrest to bring him into custody. in order to try and recover devices that were relevant to that 2017 conspiracy to bring in the drugs and the activity that we'd undertaken at that stage.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
How did a pink stun gun spark the raid on Bomber's Tamworth mansion?
0:02–8:06
2
What cash, luxury items and weapons did investigators find during the 13-hour search?
8:06–13:54
3
How did family members react while officers impounded Bomber's possessions?
13:54–19:22
4
Why was Bomber calm at arrest and what was the purpose of the initial custody call?
19:22–32:43
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Crime World
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