Yorkshire arms dealer trial collapses

Gary Hyde, 42, of Mask Lane, Newton on Derwent, near York, has been on trial at Southwark Crown Court in London accused of having helped organise the shipment without the necessary permission from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

He denied two charges of breaching the Trade in Goods (Control) Order 2003 and one charge of concealing criminal property.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith discharged the jury, telling them: “I have come to the conclusion that this case has to fail in law, on the particular facts of this case.”

He said it was to do with the framing of the order concerned, which had been replaced in 2009.

The defence had said that Hyde is not somebody who sticks “two fingers up” at the regulations.

His lawyer Stephen Solley QC told the court last week that it “simply could not be further from the truth” to describe Hyde as somebody who had deliberately broken the law over the shipment of thousands of firearms and ammunition from China to Nigeria.

He added that Hyde had no criminal record and served for seven years as a special constable.

The court heard that the shipment in 2007 was made up of 40,000 AK47 assault rifles, 30,000 rifles and 10,000 9mm pistols along with 32 million rounds of ammunition.