Man cleared of stealing from SAS

An Army finance sergeant has been cleared of stealing cash from the SAS.

Staff Sgt Mark McKay, 35, of Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, denied stealing $200,000 (about £100,000) from the SAS headquarters in Hereford.

He had told Bulford Military Court the cash was earned "legitimately" by running a private tuck shop during a deployment in the Middle East in 2003.

A board of five Army officers took an hour and 20 minutes to return its not guilty verdict.

The week-long court martial heard how Staff Sgt McKay, of the Adjutant General's Corps (AGC), made profits on selling everything from alcohol, toiletries and cigarettes to Viagra.

The father-of-two was arrested after money was found in plant pots outside his home.

Sales to troops

He told the court earlier he was "ashamed" by the huge profits he made.

Staff Sgt McKay, who had served in the Middle East between February and May 2003 during the Second Gulf War, was posted to Ballykelly after leaving the SAS.

John Mackenzie, defending, said he had earned the cash legitimately by running the private venture, funded with his own cash.

He provided products to SAS troops and large numbers of soldiers from other coalition countries based at the same compound, which was in a "country bordering Iraq".

Staff Sgt McKay told the military court that during the three-month deployment he made a total of $371,000 (about £186,000) in addition to doing his official clerical duties.

He was one of only several people allowed off the base for non-operational reasons, and he said he used that opportunity to buy items with his own money in a nearby city and then sell them on.

Staff Sgt McKay is now based in Camberley, Surrey.