SAS accused 'ran alcohol sale'
Thursday, 24 July 2008
AN Army pay clerk accused of stealing $200,000 (about £100,000) from the SAS has claimed the money was profits from selling alcohol to soldiers serving in Iraq.
Staff Sgt Mark McKay, who was stationed at Ballykelly at the time of his arrest, made about twice that amount while serving in the Middle East in 2003, a court martial heard.
Bulford Military Court heard that the 35-year-old was arrested after money was found in terracotta plant pots outside his Ballykelly home. McKay denies stealing the cash from public funds at SAS headquarters in Hereford, where he was a pay clerk.The court was informed that large amounts of foreign currency can be kept in the offices for use when troops are sent abroad.
Mr McKay was attached to 22 Special Air Service as a finance sergeant when the money went missing, and was later posted to another regiment.
The court martial has been told a total of $200,000 (£100,175), allegedly stolen from the cash office between November 2003 and July 2004, was discovered in plastic bags hidden in the plant pots.
Staff Sgt McKay, who had served in the Middle East between February and May 2003 during the Second Gulf War, was posted to Ballykelly in 2004 to work with the Infantry Brigade after leaving the SAS.
John Mackenzie, defending, said he had earned the cash "legitimately" by running the private venture, funded with his own cash.
Mr Mackenzie said McKay provided the drinks to SAS troops and large numbers of soldiers from other coalition countries based at the same compound, which was in a "country bordering Iraq".
It was claimed that McKay ran the service in addition to his official duties as a finance sergeant, which involved accounting for and providing money for SAS operational requirements, Mr Mackenzie added.
As part of his job, McKay was one of only a few soldiers allowed to go off the base to buy supplies and draw funds to pay contractors working to set up the camp.
The court heard how Mr McKay realised there was a "market" among the troops at the base for cigarettes and alcohol. Mr Mackenzie said his client would buy cases of beer for about £10 and then sell them on for £37 or £50.
His client list went up to "several thousand", the court heard.
