Mechanic who made £350,000 supplying firearms to gangsters ordered to repay just £1

A mechanic jailed for being involved in supplying dozens of firearms to gangsters made £350,000 from his life of crime, a court heard.

Allan Hughes, 30, made a fortune from being involved in the illicit trade between July 17, 2023 and May 31, 2024.

However, at a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, prosecutors revealed that they have currently been unable to identify any of his ill-gotten gains.

The Crown took Hughes to court under proceeds of crime laws in the hope of recovering his criminal assets.

The news led judge Alison Stirling to order Hughes to pay back just £1.

Hughes was caught after police seized a mobile phone with incriminating videos and messages in May 2024 – including a recording he took of himself handling guns.

The gangster, of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was in regular contact with fellow criminals both in the UK and in Europe about the sale of weapons.

He previously admitted to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime.

During sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow in January 2026, Lord Cubie told the court how Hughes was involved in “pre-planning, co-ordination and organisation” in the market for illegal weapons.

Jailing him for six years and nine months, the judge said: “The prosecution calculated that the value of the weapons was in excess of £200,000.

“The images and messages make it clear that you offered to provide specific firearms in your possession to various parties.

“You were apparently, on your account, introduced into this world as a result of being ‘in over your head’.”

Hughes, who used the nickname “Ali G”, was in contact with seven individuals and corresponded about “at least” 42 different firearms.

On May 3, 2024, police had reason to seize a mobile from Hughes.

He later messaged a person on an iPhone stating: “They took a Samsung, I am down the swanny.”

Prosecutor David Dickson KC said: “The device was examined and showed Hughes demonstrating the mechanisms of three different handguns.”

The weapons were said to be a Beretta pistol, a Turkish hunting firearm and a further self-loading pistol.

The short video clips – which did not show Hughes’ face, but had him wearing blue protective gloves while holding the guns – were played at the hearing this week.

Mr Dickson said that between July 2023 and May 2024, Hughes exchanged messages with several individuals about guns.

On June 5, 2024, Hughes was separately involved in a £15,000 heroin handover with a Liverpudlian man in Clydebank.

A total of almost £20,000 was also found in this man’s van.

Graeme Brown, defending, said the gun crime was “a continuation and escalation” to his previous involvement in drug trafficking.

Hughes was also given a three-year Serious Crime Prevention Order – known as a super-Asbo – designed to monitor and restrict criminals on their release from jail.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Bryan Heaney told judge Stirling that if the Crown identified any of Hughes’s criminal assets in the future, he would face further action under the proceeds of crime action.

Mr Heaney added: “Under the terms of the legislation, in the event of money or property belonging to Mr Hughes being identified, the Crown will be able to return to court.”