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 practise 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 officer 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 “particular responsibility for the protection of the Queen.”
Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, said: ‘The Coldstream Guards … have a need for large quantities of ammunition both for combat and for training for combat.’
He added: ‘This defendant was part of a plan, with others, to sell ammunition to which they had access through their roles in the Army. Throughout… the defendant was in very regular contact by telephone and especially via Whats- App with Rajon Graham.
‘Graham, in turn, was in regular contact with a man he believed to be involved in criminal activity, including activity relating to drugs, who he believed wanted to buy ammunition and indeed firearms… That man was and is an undercover police officer.’
Gill was in charge of overseeing the ammunition used in firing practise 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 “involved in criminal activity 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 continues.