AN arms dealer from near York jailed for helping to ship 80,000 guns and 32 million rounds of ammunition to Nigeria has been ordered to pay more than £780,000 or face an extra four years behind bars.

Former special constable Gary Hyde, 42, was locked up for seven years after overseeing an £800,000 consignment of AK47 rifles, 9mm pistols, rifles and bullets, from China to Africa in 2007.

The businessman, based in Newton-upon-Derwent, ignored strict laws set up to control the trade and transportation of weapons, despite being regarded as an “authority” on the legislation.

Hyde was in high demand for his expertise and attended exclusive briefings at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.

He also won contracts from the Ministry of Defence to bring in decommissioned weapons from conflict zones, and from the US government to supply anti-Saddam Hussein forces in Iraq.

But Hyde acted in a “deliberate and calculated breach of the law” to pull off a £$1.3m deal, in exchange for about £280,000, which he tried to squirrel away in a Liechtenstein bank account.

He smuggled a total of 40,000 AK47 assault rifles, 30,000 other rifles, 10,000 9mm pistols and 32m rounds of ammunition.

It is believed the weapons were purchased on behalf of the Nigerian police force.

Yesterday at Southwark Crown Court, Hyde was ordered to repay £782,142.57 within six months, or face a further four years added to his current sentence.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: “The benefit figure agreed is £782,142.57 and all parties agree that Mr Hyde’s assets exceed that, I know not by how much. That sum is to be paid within six months.

“The default sentence will be four years imprisonment consecutive to the current term in default of payment.”

During the trial, prosecutor Mukul Chawla QC said the case was about the shipment of huge quantity of guns and ammunition from China to Nigeria in 2007.

Because it was being partly arranged and organised from the UK by Hyde, it required the permission of the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills in the form of a licence.

“Mr Hyde, despite knowing that such a licence was required, helped to organise that shipment without seeking and obtaining the required licence,” he said. “This was not an oversight but, say the prosecution, a deliberate and calculated breach of the law.”

Hyde claimed he had not been in the UK at critical times when the deal was being negotiated and therefore had not flouted UK laws.

For Hyde, Stephen Solley QC said he was a “legitimate businessman” and said the allegation he knowingly broke UK law was “ludicrous”.

Hyde denied two counts of becoming knowingly concerned in the movement of controlled goods between March 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007, and one count of concealing criminal property between March 1, 2006, and December 16, 2008.