Red Devils parachute display team’s commanding officer fined for selling spent ammo worth £20k
THE Red Devils parachute display team’s commanding officer has been fined for selling spent ammo worth £20,000.
Captain Steven Child, 48, admitted negligence after brass casings were taken to recycling centres in the US and exchanged for cash.
He and Capt Dean Pilcher, both of the Parachute Regiment, failed to submit the proceeds to the Ministry of Defence and were court martialled.
The pair were on training sorties with the elite Special Forces Support Group between 2017 and 2019 at Fort Knox in Kentucky when the offences were committed.
Their ammo was flown from the UK by the RAF.
Excess and spent ammo should have been flown back.
But a shortage of aircraft meant secure facilities were hired to store it and ten tons of casings were sold.
Both pleaded guilty to negligence at the hearing in Catterick, North Yorks.
An Army spokesman last night said: “We do not tolerate this kind of behaviour and as a result, they were sentenced to a fine of four days’ pay to be paid within 28 days.”
Capt Child has served in the Army for more than 30 years and has done over 350 jumps.