A SOLDIER who took live ammunition and a dummy hand grenade home to Cinderford as 'souvenirs' when he was kicked out of the Army has avoided going to prison.

Police found a live round and 240 rounds of blank bullets at James Duff's home when they arrested him in January this year.

He told officers he had dumped other live rounds in the Forest, said prosecutor Lisa Hennessy.

Duff, of Upper Bilson Inn, pleaded guilty to three charges of theft of ammunition and equipment from Redford Barracks, Edinburgh, possession of military amunition and equipment, and possession of cannabis on January 14.

Judge Michael Harington told him: "Clearly these are serious matters which cross the custody threshold. You have come very close to receiving an immediate prison sentence.

"But the prosecution accept there was no sinister motive and you were keeping these items as souvenirs or perhaps with a wish to make a profit out of them."

He gave Duff a nine month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to do 150 hours of unpaid work. He also ordered him to pay £276 costs.

Mrs Hennessy had told the court Duff served as a Rifleman with 3Rifles from September 16, 2007 to January 31, 2009 when he was discharged at his barracks in Edinburgh.

"It is a rule that on completion of any range or exercise a declaration must be given by the soldier stating that they have no live rounds, blank rounds, empty cases or parts in their possession," she said.

"So it came as a surprise to police when on January 14 they went to speak to Mr Duff about an unrelated matter and found undeclared ammunition and a practice grenade.

"In his bedroom at the Upper Bilson Inn they found five spent ammunition cartridges and one live round of ammunition as well as 15 boxes of 5.56mm blank bullets – a total of 240 rounds.

"He also had a small plastic wrap of herbal cannabis.

"He was arrested and told the police that he kept the ammunition and grenade as souvenirs when he left the Army."

"He said he knew about the required declaration and knew that he should have given them back.

"He told the interviewing officer that when he got home he had found a few live rounds in his rucksack and had thrown most of them away in the woods, but had kept one, along with a practice grenade."

Mrs Hennessy told the court Duff has previous convictions for 14 offences dating back to 2004 and they include aggravated vehicle taking, theft of a vehicle, battery, public disorder and driving with excess alcohol.

Claire Malvern-White, defending, handed the court a reference for Duff from his current employers, Construction Agricultural.

She said that when he was discharged from the Army he was required to leave "pretty quickly and he scooped everything into his rucksack and left."

He moved back to his family home with the ammunition.