An RAF airman has been jailed for three months and dismissed from the service for forging qualifications so he could go to Iraq, it was revealed yesterday.

Flight Lieutenant David Rhys Sharp, of Bracebridge Grove in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to four counts of using false certificates which claimed he had completed the required training.

Flt Lt Sharp, who was stationed at RAF Waddington, also admitted forging a letter purporting to be from the Royal Marines vouching for his training, carrying a weapon and wearing a Parachute regiment badge he was not entitled to.

He was due to be sentenced today but the hearing was unexpectedly brought forward and he was dealt with last Thursday.

Court staff at the Bulford Court Centre in Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, could not explain why the date had been changed.

Last week he was also tried and found guilty of breaching the Firearms Act by keeping a box of live ammunition in his front room for seven months after he returned from Iraq.

He told investigators that he had tried to hand the rounds in to the camp armoury but they had refused to take them without the paperwork to prove where they were issued.

But a court martial panel found that he was guilty of the charge.