A court heard yesterday that the most senior enlisted member of the Queen’s special bodyguard regiment sold rounds of ammunition only seconds after bragging about his promotion.
The Coldstream Guards’ 41-year-old Regimental Sergeant Major Kirtland Gill, the organization’s first black officer, is accused of conspiring with Lance Sergeant Rajon Graham to sell hundreds of bullets.
However, it was claimed that the buyer who claimed to be a drug dealer instead turned out to be an undercover police officer, leading to the pair’s capture in a police sting.
The two troops were said to have had access to the ammunition used for target practice at Southwark Crown Court.
The Coldstream Guards are the Army’s oldest regiment still in active service.
The corps, which can be identified by their red coats and black bearskin hats, serves as the ceremonial guardians of royal castles like Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
Gill is accused of providing the ammunition that 33-year-old Graham sold to the undercover cop for £5,800 by handing over bundles of bullets during meetings at a Tesco parking lot in Windsor. Gill is said to have had a “special duty for the protection of the Queen.”
“The Coldstream Guards… have a need for vast supplies of ammunition both for combat and for training for combat,” said Duncan Atkinson QC, the prosecutor.
The defendant, along with others, participated in a scheme to sell ammunition to which they had access as a result of their military service, the prosecutor continued.
Throughout, the defendant kept in touch with Rajon Graham by phone and particularly Whatsapp.
Graham, on the other hand, maintained regular contact with a man he thought was engaged in criminal behavior, including drug-related conduct, and who he thought desired to purchase ammunition and even weapons… That man was and still is a police undercover agent.
Gill was in charge of overseeing the ammunition used in firing practice and had recently been appointed as the unit’s first black Regimental Sergeant Major.
The jury was informed that on December 17, 2020, Gill spoke with a national publication about the promotion before meeting Graham and an undercover policeman known only as D to deliver the ammunition in Bacofoil bags.
WhatsApp communications, location information from mobile devices, and ties to police surveillance Gill to the scheme, the jury was informed.
The accused, who enlisted in the Army in 2001, disputes any involvement in a plot to move or sell ammunition.
According to Mr. Atkinson, Graham has previously acknowledged to selling a man he knew to be “engaged in criminal activities and drug dealing” 300 live 9mm rounds worth £5,800.
Jurors heard that Graham sold the bullets, which he called “sweets,” in four different transactions.
Graham and Gill were taken into custody following the payment of £1,900 for the last 100 rounds.
Gill, a resident of Windsor, also disputes having a restricted firearm.
The trial goes on.