A colour sergeant has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing war medals from fellow soldiers and selling them on eBay. Gordon Hill, 38, took medals belonging to eight servicemen who were on sick leave or deployed on operations, making nearly £7,000 from the sales.
Swindon Crown Court heard that Hill, from Darlington, County Durham, committed the thefts at Warminster garrison in Wiltshire between 2008 and 2010. The medals were sold to buyers as far away as New Zealand, with proceeds totalling £6,936.
Victims described their sense of shock and betrayal. Sergeant Andrew Turnbull said: 'My medals represent personal blood spilt overseas.' Another victim, Sergeant Mark Wall, stated: 'The theft of my medal and the fact that another fellow senior non-commissioned officer breached my trust and friendship makes me feel sick.'
Judge Douglas Field told Hill: 'Your victims were no less than your fellow sergeants, who had every right to believe that they should be able to trust their colleagues. You have broken that trust in the most disgraceful way.' The judge noted the emotional attachment to the medals, made more poignant by the fact that some of the soldiers' comrades had died.
Hill, who served 22 years in the army and was twice court-martialled for stealing from comrades, was found guilty of eight counts of theft or burglary and 12 counts of fraud. He is in the process of being discharged from the military.
