Two serving British Army soldiers who offered to supply cannabis worth more than £8,000 have been spared jail time.
The men, who are part of the same military unit, were caught out in November 2023 when nearly a kilo of class B drugs was recovered.
After being arrested, one of the soldiers mounted a doomed attempted to thwart police by getting his wife to hide a bag of drugs in a hedgerow.
But she was caught on drone footage and the cannabis was seized.
At Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday, Judge Paul Goldspring handed the two soldiers suspended jail sentences and ordered them into rehabilitation and community service.
“You have led exemplary lives as soldiers”, he told them. “You have served us with great valour, bravery and fortitude.
“The reason for this offending is plain and simple: greed.
“That creates a paradox”.
Previously, the judge issued reporting restrictions on national security grounds to prevent the defendants being identified. They sat behind a screen in the dock, and were referred to in court as Defendant X and Defendant Y.
Judge Goldspring handed both defendants an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for the next 18 months.
The men must also pay £200 costs each, carry out 100 hours of community service, and attend up to 20 days of rehabilitation sessions.
The judge said he believed the soldiers’ remorse is “genuine”.
The court had been told how messages on encrypted app Signal between the pair revealed they had discussed the sale of a ‘box’ of herbal cannabis.
One of the soldiers referred to handling the “strongest“ type of cannabis, and said of possible customers: “If they want a sample, we can do that.“
When police arrested Defendant Y, he phoned his wife and instructed her to get rid of a bag, but drone footage by waiting police captured her actions as she stashed the holdall of cannabis in a nearby hedgerow.
Both soldiers pleaded guilty to making an offer to supply cannabis in November 2023. Defendant X admitted possessing around 33 grams of cannabis resin, while Defendant Y accepted he had been caught with 996 grams of cannabis.
Prosecutor Frederick Hookway told the court the batch of cannabis had a street value of around £10,000.
“It is a case involving them jointly making an offer to supply cannabis“, said the prosecutor.
“There were messages between these two defendants where they appeared to discuss selling quantities of cannabis.“
Mr Hookway said Defendant Y was arrested in Herefordshire, and he asked to make a phone call to his wife.
“He was allowed to make the call and promptly instructed her to dispose of a bag, and not to ask any questions“, he told the court.
“Police were simultaneously monitoring Y’s home address via a drone.
“This provided a video stream which showed Y’s wife leave the property after having received the call from Y at the Police station. She was carrying a holdall which she then attempted to hide in the hedgerow. “
DNA from both defendants was recovered from the holdall.
Mr Hookway said there was reference in the Signal messages to a “box“ of drugs, understood to refer to a kilo, talk of a price of £8950, and “some other messages where Defendant X was exploring selling cannabis with unknown others“.
On November 25, 2023, Defendant X messaged his colleague on Signal to say “Its 5k a box up here going rate. “
Defendant Y replied saying: “Cali (a strain of herbal cannabis) is 3200 a box…Stop flapping and stop thinking it’s worth more than it is.“
“The obvious inference from these messages is the defendants have a quantity of cannabis which they are attempting to sell“, said Mr Hookway, before pointing to a reference in the messages to sell “on tick“, meaning on credit.
Defendant X also admitted possession of seven fake Rolex receipts which had been used in fraud.
The prosecutor said investigators found seven receipts which appeared to be from a jewellers in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Each receipt was identical, showing the purchase of a Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41MM Jubilee for $6,500 purchase of a Rolex, with Defendant X named as the buyer and a fake name for a seller.
“Defendant X accepted the receipts were fake“, said Mr Hookway.
When entering his guilty plea, Defendant X said he bought what he thought was a genuine Rolex watch, and generated the fake receipt when he was attempting to sell it on.
The court was told neither soldier has any previous criminal convictions, although Defendant X was cautioned at 18-years-old for possession of an air weapon in a public place.
Defendant Y “fell in with the wrong crowd” after what had been an impressive military career, the court was told.
