TWO soldiers stole more than £44,000 of equipment from the SAS headquarters near Hereford.

Army stores non-commissioned officers Craig Davenport and Stephen Suffield took the kit from the Credenhill base and passed it on to Andrew Stevens.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard that items taken included night vision goggles, stun grenades, flare launchers and body armour.

Stevens, 41, from Waterlooville in Hampshire, then sold it on to contacts in the Far East.

The three men all admitted conspiracy to steal from the Ministry of Defence and are due to be sentenced later this month.

The trio set up a WhatsApp group called “Boys Toys” where they discussed what items could be taken from SAS storerooms.

They got away with the racket for nine months until Stevens tried to smuggle gear to Hong Kong on a jet at Heathrow and radioactive material in night vision goggles set off airport security scanners.

Sergeant Davenport, who is 33 and from Crewe, claimed most of the stuff he stole was “scrap from bins”.

Suffield, who is 28 and from Chippenham in Wiltshire, had gambling and debt problems.

He was flown home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and arrested.

The trio are due to be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on October 31.