Extradited Businessman Sentencing

Extradited Briton Christopher Tappin, from Kent, has been jailed for 33 months for arms dealing after a deal with US prosecutors was given the all-clear, a court spokeswoman said.

The 66-year-old pleaded guilty last year to one count of aiding and abetting the illegal export of defence articles under a so-called plea bargain secured last year.

US District Judge David Briones fined Tappin 11,357.14 US dollars (£7,095), in addition to the prison sentence, at a court hearing in El Paso, Texas.

Judge Briones recommended that the former president of the Kent Golf Union should be allowed to serve his sentence in the UK but the decision ultimately rests with the US Bureau of Prisons, a spokeswoman for the court added.

Tappin, from Orpington, will commence his sentence at the Allenwood prison in Pennsylvania and must turn himself in to start the term by March 8.

Tappin's wife, Elaine, said she hoped the jailed businessman would have "the mental fortitude to cope with whatever lies before him in the months and years to come''.