The extraordinary life of a Shropshire gun runner has been revealed in full – including his links to pop superstar Madonna.

Steven Greenoe was once a bodyguard to the star and worked on the set of hit film Ocean’s 12, starring George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt.

The 37-year-old Shrewsbury man smuggled guns into Britain from America and claimed to have worked for Nato and the French Foreign Legion.

He claimed also to have been a captain in the US marines although at least one document referred to him as a lance corporal with a desk job.

The details emerged in court yesterday. Greenoe, who lived in St George’s Street, Frankwell, bought weapons from gun shops in America and smuggled them to Britain on commercial flights after breaking them down into parts and hiding them in his luggage, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

He was arrested at Raleigh Durham International Airport in July 2010 when 16 guns were found in his suitcase and is awaiting sentence in the US after admitting gun-running charges.

His former wife Elizabeth, who lived with Greenoe in Frankwell, gave evidence yesterday at the trial of Steven Cardwell, 31, and Neil Copplestone, 32, both from Liverpool, who the prosecution say sold guns from Greenoe to UK criminals.

She said she and her husband had lived in the south of France during 2005 and 2006, where in addition to his job of providing ‘maritime security’ for yachts, Greenoe worked on the film Ocean’s 12 as security in Paris and Amsterdam.

Mr Gordon Cole, for Cardwell, asked if she had seen photographs of Greenoe ‘in the company of film or pop stars’ including George Clooney, Matt Damon and Madonna.

Mrs Greenoe, who is divorced from Greenoe, said: “I have seen a picture of him when he bodyguarded for Madonna.”

The court was also told that certificates discovered after Greenoe’s arrest appeared to throw doubt on his claims to be a captain in the US marines, as one document referred to him as a lance corporal with an administrative role.

Mrs Greenoe said he told her he had worked for Nato and the French Foreign Legion.

Some of the 81 firearms Greenoe bought in the US were used for ‘serious criminal offences’ in the UK, including one fatal shooting, an attempted murder in Manchester and an attempted robbery in Liverpool, the court was told.

Cardwell, of Old Church Close, Aintree, and Copplestone, of Ruff Lane, Ormskirk, deny conspiracy to import, sell and possess prohibited firearms with intent to endanger life.

By Chris Burn