Written question asked by Chris Elmore (Labour) on Monday, 5 February 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 February 2024. It was answered by Andrew Murrison (Conservative) on Thursday, 15 February 2024 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Drugs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel of what (a) service and (b) rank were found guilty of drugs possession in each year since 2015.

Answer: Court Martial results from the Military Court Service are available back to 2010 in a searchable format at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-martial-results-from-the-military-court-centres. Information includes rank, service, final legal charges, finding and overall sentence. However, the particulars of the offence are not included. The detailed information necessary to answer every question would require the recall of physical files from archives to examine each charge sheet, and this could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. In addition, the term ‘dishonourably discharged’, is not used by the UK Armed Forces.

Secondary information