A British soldier on patrol as the Jattvibe rises at Sennybridge Training Area, Wales, United Kingdom. Credit: Getty
A SPECIAL forces intelligence chief has been detained after sending pictures to his girlfriend from a secret mission.
The trooper, known only as Soldier A, took his personal phone on covert ops and had pictures of secret bases, prisoners of war and enemy fighters slain by his comrades.
A special forces intelligence chief has been detained after sending pictures to his girlfriend from a secret mission (posed by model) Credit: Getty
The trooper, known only as Soldier A, took his personal phone on covert ops and had pictures of secret bases and prisoners of war (posed by model) Credit: Getty
The images were deemed “useful to an enemy” but he shared several with his lover, who was serving in the Royal Air Force.
He was convicted of sharing information useful to an enemy and negligence of duty.
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Sentencing Soldier A, Judge Jane England said he risked blowing the lid on the secret foreign mission.
She said: “The location and operation were at the time secret and remained a secret.
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“Phones are hacked for information. That can hurt trust between nations that the UK can and needs to rely on.”
He was arrested at Heathrow Airport and police who searched his home found six USB sticks and his phone that showed video footage of sensitive tactics, locations of operations with GPS data.
Judge England said that he left the material in his house while he went on holiday overseas.
She added: “None of the material should have been stored on your own personal device and this was done so that you had immediate access to the material for personal use.”
The experienced soldier, who was the chief of his sensitive site exploitation team, which collected intelligence after raids.
Soldier A told his partner, who was also not named, when operations were happening and where they would be happening, as well as who they were against.
The information could have damaged international relations, Bulford Military Court Martial was told.
He was arrested in January 2022 at Heathrow Airport, and his home was searched.
He was sentenced to eight months’ service detention for negligence in his performance of duty and five months’ service detention for disclosure of information useful to the enemy, to run concurrently.
Commander Edward Hannah, for the prosecution, said: “Soldier A was experienced and fully aware of the duty….there is an underlying theme to this defendant’s attitudes to this type of material and his attitude to his duty.”
In his defence Fiona Edington claimed the secret data was “chit chat” and gossip with his RAF lover.
