A YORK gun dealer who denies smuggling weaponry into the United States has failed in a bid to return home to Britain until he stands trial.

A judge in America has ruled that Gary Hyde, 41, managing director of York Guns, in Dunnington, must stay there on $50,000 cash bail under satellite monitoring.

The case against Hyde is expected to take many months or even a year to get to trial, as federal authorities collaborate with police agencies in England and Germany to obtain investigative work conducted in Europe.

Hyde is accused of selling Chinese-made AK47 rifle magazines in America, in contravention of US rules banning the importation of Chinese-made weapons or accessories.

He is alleged to have altered the magazines so they appeared to be Bulgarian-manufactured, which would be legal for importation.

A co-defendant, German-born Karl Kleber, who is registered with Companies House as a director of two York-based companies, Frederic James Ltd and Jago Ltd, both of St Saviourgate, pleaded guilty recently to smuggling and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Hyde was arrested in Las Vegas last month while attending the SHOT Show, a massive sales event for firearms distributors, hunters and gun enthusiasts.

A York Guns spokeswoman said last week that, although Hyde was the firm’s managing director, no allegations had been directed towards the company and no inquiries had been made of it by the US authorities.

She said it was continuing to operate normally in both a retail and trade capacity and had received “exceptional support” from suppliers and customers alike.