Stephen Miles Bagshaw, his wife Fay Bagshaw, Ben Alexander Garner, Lloyd Doak and Thomas Smith all pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court to conspiracy to steal Ministry of Defence property from the base between 2017 and 2019. The items included night vision goggles, helmets, weapon sights, ear defenders, clothing and boots – which were then forwarded to Scottish businessman Wayne Gladwin and sold online.

The court heard that some of the high-value items such as the night vision equipment were classified as ‘ACTO’ – Attractive to Terrorist or Criminal Organisations.

The four servicemen were in the Royal Lancers and worked in the quartermaster’s department. Fay Bagshaw was not employed by the Army but lived in married quarters at Catterick with her husband Stephen, described as the ‘middleman’ who stored the stolen kit at their home.

Around £106,000 worth of equipment was stolen in total and one unit had to postpone a deployment to Cyprus after six soldiers had their weapon sights taken during a burglary at their barracks.

The group’s activities were discovered by ‘incriminating material’ found on their mobile phones, which also proved the extent of Fay Bagshaw’s involvement, as messages showed she had been negotiating over the split of profits and performing ‘admin’ tasks such as packaging the items and arranging payments.

Stephen Bagshaw, 34, – the ‘funnel’ in the conspiracy – had access to the stores and could issue requests through MOD systems. He took ‘anything he could get his hands on’, including ration packs, laser light modules and helmets, and had a ‘shopping list’ from which he stole to order for civilian Wayne Gladwin, who encouraged him to remove the serial numbers.

The court was told that Bagshaw had a gambling addiction, and had been passed over for promotion after his wife reported this to the Army.

The Crown accepted that although his wife Fay did not source or steal the items and claimed to be working on the direction of her husband, who had been violent towards her, she was aware the equipment was being stolen and was conducting negotiations herself, receiving £17,000 through her PayPal account.

Ben Garner, 32, was a lance corporal for stores, and ‘stole on demand’ despite being in a position of trust. He was not aware of the wider conspiracy and took mainly clothing and boots, as well as helmets. He also sold printer toner cartridges to an office supplies business whose owner, Shane Jelley, has pleaded guilty to separate offences, as has MOD staff member Emma Joyce, who reported stock levels to Garner.

An accounting error blamed on another employee was used to explain why 46 helmets Garner had taken were found to be missing during an audit.

Lloyd Doak, the squadron quartermaster sergeant, issued kit to other soldiers and the court was told he ‘saw no harm’ in selling his own surplus equipment on eBay. Stephen Bagshaw offered him £30 for each ration pack when he had some left over from a training exercise, and Doak also sold padlocks, shotgun cleaning foam and compasses as an individual, earning around £768.

Thomas Smith sold 30 ear defender sets and 50 padlocks, and also took a selfie of him taking 2,000 litres of diesel fuel from Cambrai Barracks in jerrycans.

The Royal Lancers’ quartermaster officer, Captain Mark James, told the court that the group’s crimes had ‘impacted on our operational effectiveness and degraded our capability’.

Stephen Bagshaw’s defence counsel said his client was the youngest soldier to be deployed to Iraq at the time he was sent there aged 18 in 2006, and also completed two tours of Afghanistan. He has since been invalided out of the Army, but is in full-time work and financially supports his son with Fay Bagshaw, from whom he is now separated.

Ben Garner’s barrister said the Army had ‘stood by him’ and he kept his job after the charge was made, before he was voluntarily discharged after 14 years’ service. He has retrained as a telecommunications engineer, has organised charity events and has shown ‘genuine remorse’ and sought treatment for his own gambling problems.

Thomas Smith’s counsel said he had ‘accepted responsibility’ for his part in the thefts, and has three children aged 14, 10 and six. He was medically discharged from the Army after 16 years’ service and is now working as a mechanic.

Fay Bagshaw’s lawyer argued that she was ‘never in a position of trust’ and that she was ‘originally in the dark’ before becoming part of the conspiracy out of ‘desperation’ due to financial difficulties. She had become ‘isolated’ after moving away from family and friends to Catterick, and claimed the Army failed to offer her welfare support when she reported Stephen’s violent behaviour. She has since got a job working with vulnerable children and has a daughter and two sons.

Lloyd Doak’s counsel said his compulsory term in the Army was now over and he was unable to apply to commission as an officer from the ranks, his ‘dream’, due to the offending. He was described as an otherwise ‘exemplary character’ by his commanding officers who had shown ‘complete remorse’ and whose partner said he was ‘overwhelmed with shame’.

Judge Howard Crowson jailed Stephen Bagshaw for two years and four months and Ben Garner for 16 months. Fay Bagshaw was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence with 150 hours of unpaid work. Lloyd Doak and Thomas Smith were both given two-year community orders with 150 hours of unpaid work as they did not take restricted items on the ACTO list.

Wayne Gladwin, who ordered items and sold them on, was jailed for two and a half years last month.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing will be held at a later date.

Four British Army soldiers and wife sentenced for stealing military equipment from stores at Catterick Garrison to be sold online