A FORMER soldier who served in Iraq has been jailed for handling and selling stolen goods valued at more than £11,000.

Daniel Silcox's haul included a custom-made bicycle frame, a lawnmower valued at £2,000, golf equipment, two mountain bikes, a strimmer, a leaf-blower, a bush cutter, tools and two pressure washers.

The items had been stolen in burglaries that happened between June 2013 and January last year at addresses in Menston, Otley, Ilkley and Burley-in- Wharfedale.

Prosecutor Martin Robertshaw told Bradford Crown Court today that Silcox sold the golfing equipment and a sander tool to two unsuspecting people on auction site eBay for £184.89 and £205, respectively.

Police found the remainder in a outside store house that 26-year-old Silcox was renting at his step-grandfather's Add Construction firm in Low Moor, Bradford, said Mr Robertshaw.

He added that the total value of Silcox's dishonesty was £11,487.88p.

Silcox, of Bowes Nook, Buttershaw, Bradford, admitted six offences of handling stolen goods and two of fraud by false representation.

In mitigation, Laura Nash, said he had been a labourer since 2010, but before that was in the Army. She said he had been suffering financial difficulties, but had been trading legitimately before his offending.

On Silcox's time in the Army, Miss Nash said: "At 16 he was enlisted in the Army. It was something he had aspirations to do and he enlisted as soon as he was old enough to.

"He was in the Army for three years and toured in Iraq when he was 18 or 19 but he lost a very close friend and that changed his outlook on being a member of the armed forces."

A number of character references were handed into the court, including ones from his employer Add Construction, friends and the landlady of his local pub. Miss Nash also said that Silcox had a child that lived out of the area, and added that he was a "good father".

Jailing Silcox for 12 months, Judge Colin Burn told him he had taken into account his service for the Crown in Iraq but added the circumstances of his offending were aggravated by a number of features.

"One of the most important is that you were clearly more than happy to make money out of other people's misery. These are valuable items in monetary terms and in emotional terms," Judge Burn said.

"The competition bike was made to measure and it was a prized possession for the loser. The lawnmower had been in the possession of the owner for some time."

He continued: "Such burglars would not exist unless someone was there to pass the items on to."