Founder of offshore company backed by Priti Patel in legal battle involved in arms deal

The arms deal involved the sale of £6.2m worth of weapons

Priti Patel had backed P&ID on three occasions in a long and bitter legal action over a gas processing plant in Nigeria (PA)

One of the founders of an offshore company backed by Priti Patel in a $10bn legal battle with Nigeria in British courts was caught up in an illegal arms deal that led to a jail sentence for a business associate.

Gary Hyde, a weapons dealer, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment over his part in the sale of 40,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 30,000 rifles, 10,000 pistols and 32 million rounds of ammunition from China to Nigeria in a contact worth £6.2m.

Brendan Cahill, of P&ID (Process & Industrial Development), the company backed by Ms Patel, was acting for the Nigerian purchaser in the transaction.  Mr Cahill was not accused of any unlawful action, and faced no charges. Selling arms by a company based in the UK was illegal under the circumstances, but helping to buy them in Nigeria did not break UK laws.