A fraudster who made £45 million from the sale of fake bomb detectors has been ordered to pay back £1.25 million.

Gary Bolton made a fortune by claiming his GT200 and "Mole" devices could find explosives, drugs, cash, tobacco and even humans at up to three miles.

But the detector actually had its origins in a novelty golf ball finder and was merely a retractable antenna mounted on a plastic box.

Bolton, 47, , from Chatham and formerly of Harvel, near Meopham, baffled officials and potential customers with crackpot scientific theories to drum up support for his Ashford-based business Global Technical.

He managed to hoodwink the diplomat brother of Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman into offering his support while the UK’s ambassador to Mexico.

Members of a trade body linked to the British Army also helped sell Bolton’s machines to the military in Saudi Arabia.

One official at the Royal Engineers Export Support Team boasted the device was "the best thing since sliced bread".

Global Technical sold the machines for up to £20,000 each and at its peak was turning over £3m.

Scientific tests later proved the machines offered no advantage over random chance - but Bolton continues to insist they work perfectly.

But after a three-week Old Bailey trail Bolton, of Redshank Road, St Mary’s Island, was convicted of fraud in 2013 and sentenced to seven years behind bars.

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