Yorkshire gun dealer accused of plot to smuggle arms into US

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fried”. Also accused by federal investigators are another UK national, Paul Restorick, 61, of Kent, and Karl Kleber, 56, of Lisbon, identified as a business associate of Hyde.

Named in the charges is a company called Jago Ltd, described in the court papers as an “international arms business based in York”, of which Hyde is listed as company secretary and Kleber as a director.

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Hyde, who lives with his wife near York, runs a number of other companies in the area including Dunnington-based York Guns, of which he is managing director.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the firm said: “We are aware that allegations have been made against Gary Hyde, a director of Jago Ltd, by the United States authorities.

“Although Gary Hyde is managing director of York Guns Ltd, no allegations have been directed towards York Guns Ltd and no enquiries have been made of the company by the US authorities. The company will continue to function as normal in his absence.”

In the 1990s, Hyde received a North Yorkshire Chief Constable’s bravery award for helping to foil a raid on his York Guns shop, then in King Street, York, during which he had a shotgun pointed at his head and was blindfolded in an ordeal which he called “terrifying”. He also spoke out in the 1990s against a tightening of gun laws after it was revealed that York Guns had supplied a pistol used by Dunblane killer Thomas Hamilton.

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The Federal authorities in the US have refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding the arrests but it is understood Hyde was detained in Las Vegas where he was attending a large gun show.

It is expected that Hyde will be brought from Las Vegas to Rochester, New York, in the coming week. Neither his UK or US lawyers were available to comment yesterday.

Prosecutors have underlined he is innocent until proven guilty.