Key facts
- British arms broker David Greenhalgh was jailed for 16 years for illegal arms deals.
- Greenhalgh arranged deals for missile systems to South Sudan and fighter jets to Libya.
- He was convicted of 10 counts of unlicensed arms supply between 2009 and 2016.
- Co-defendant Christos Farmakis received the same sentence in absentia.
- The deals involved AK-47 rifles, battle tanks, and ammunition.
- The pair also arranged to supply weapons to Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
A British arms broker, David Greenhalgh, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for orchestrating illegal arms deals, including supplying missile systems to South Sudan and fighter jets to Libya during its civil war. The 68-year-old was convicted in June on 10 counts related to the unlicensed supply of weapons between 2009 and 2016.
His co-defendant, Greek national Christos Farmakis, 48, was convicted of nine offences and sentenced to the same 16-year term, though he was tried in his absence and his current whereabouts are unknown. Judge Sally-Ann Hales stated that the men repeatedly sought to breach arms export bans for significant profits.
Prosecutors noted that only one charge involved the actual supply of weaponry: the sale of a former Ukrainian S-125 Pechora missile system to South Sudan. At the time, South Sudan was still part of Sudan, which was subject to a British arms embargo. The court heard that Greenhalgh and Farmakis also arranged to supply weapons to Iran, Iraq, and Syria, violating embargoes.
Farmakis was apprehended after using his work email for the government-funded Greater London Enterprise to privately arrange arms deals. An email forwarded to his boss led authorities to discover documents detailing plans to sell fighter jets and other arms to Libya following the 2011 Arab Spring.