Colour Sergeant Gordon Hill, 38, broke into the rooms of eight fellow sergeants who were on sick leave or tours of duty and took their military honours.

He earned nearly �£7,000 selling them online to collectors as far afield as New Zealand.

All the victims have had their medals returned or are in the process of getting them back.

Hill had denied charges of burglary, theft and fraud during his trial at Swindon Crown Court.

The married father-of-two from Darlington, County Durham, insisted his victims all asked him to sell the medals on their behalf and he had given them the money after they were sold.

But a jury found him guilty on all counts and yesterday he was jailed for five years.

It was Hill's third conviction for stealing from his comrades. In 1999 he was court-martialled for the theft of kit and a bank card from fellow soldiers 'which he sold for '£300. Four years later he was reprimanded for stealing another soldier's car.

Earlier, the jury heard emotional impact statements from the brave soldiers who lost their medals ' all awarded for service in Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone.

Sergeant Andrew Turnbull said his medals 'represent personal blood spilt overseas'and described Hill's actions as a 'complete betrayal of trust'. Another, Sergeant Mark Wall, said the theft 'makes me feel sick'.

In a statement written last year, Sergeant Thomas Salter said he would not attend any Armistice Day parades because he did not have his medals.

Sergeant Kevin Blackley added: 'My Afghan medal serves as a chilling reminder of the price we pay for the freedom that we take for granted. We lost five from our battalion and three from our reconnaissance force.'

'


Prosecutor Hannah Squire told the court Hill received �£6,936 from selling the medals, stolen at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster, Wiltshire, to unsuspecting collectors.

She said:'These medals represent more than just recognition of their service.

'To some they are the physical embodiment of what they had to go through to get them. To some they represent close friends and colleagues they lost in action.'

Jailing Hill, Judge Douglas Field ' himself a former soldier 'said he was surprised he was still in the Army despite having two previous convictions.

The judge added:'Your victims were no less than your fellow sergeants, who had every right to believe that they should be able to trust their colleagues in the mess. You have broken that trust in the most disgraceful way. The present offences have brought shame and dishonour on you.

Hill is in the process of being discharged from the Army.

this will break LtKilling's limp wrist.

5 years ... for medals!
All the rapists are going to laugh!

Death Sentence!

From hero to zero (if he ever was one).

I blame those in the army whose job it was too weed people like this guy out in the selection process. Then those who gave him another chance then another.

Sounds like something this turd would have done if he was ever in anyones Army.

In most cases individuals pass themselves off as veterans by wearing medals or ribbons. Often they get caught out by wearing the wrong ones. Also, a few veterans may seek to embellish their military service by wearing medals to which they are not entitled.

I'm pretty sure that anybody CAN wear someone elses medals, ribbons and decorations IF they are worn on the opposite side to which the wearer would wear the decorations if they had earned them themselves.

Fredmasse wrote:

5 years ... for medals!
All the rapists are going to laugh!

I say good on the Brits to show it's a dead serious offence! Fucking well done! That will teach the fucking traitor, cunt, bastard, bitch!

Snail_Bait wrote:

this will break LtKilling's limp wrist.

yeah right, I NEVER mess around when I am on drill

fuck that, the fuckers in the army think I am GI JOE but they don't know what I AM REALLY THINKING

HAHhHHh

Colour Sergeant Gordon Hill ...

What is a 'colour' sergeant?