Watch: Lorry driver running secret gun factory from caravan arrested | News

This is the moment a lorry driver behind an undercover weapons conversion operation was arrested after armed police raided his caravan workshop.

Thomas McKenna, 60, was detained in November 2024 when officers raided three of his caravans at a traveler site in Buckles Lane, South Ockendon, Essex. Inside one of them they found loaded handguns, ammunition and improvised explosives.

Prosecutors said McKenna used rudimentary tools to turn blank-firing guns into lethal weapons and maintained a criminal network in London and the South East.

Investigators also uncovered extremist messages calling for violence. McKenna pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including obtaining terrorist information and possessing prohibited firearms.

He will be sentenced on February 6.