SAS pay clerk 'stole $200,000'

An army pay clerk stole $200,000 (approximately £100,000) of public funds from an SAS cash office, a court martial has been told.

Staff Sergeant Mark Mckay, 35, took the money - in US currency - from the SAS regimental headquarters in Hereford, the Wiltshire court martial heard.

The money was later found in two terracotta plant pots outside his front door, prosecutor Nadim Bashir said.

Mr Mckay denies stealing the money between November 2003 and July 2004.

He was arrested after military police searched his home in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, in 2006, where he had been posted to.

Mr Mckay was attached to 22 Special Air Service as a finance sergeant when the money went missing.

He was later posted to another regiment.

The court martial at Bulford, Wiltshire, heard that Mr McKay was highly regarded by his superiors.

It also heard that large amounts of foreign currency can be kept in the offices for use when troops are sent abroad.

The case continues.