BBC News, 19
October 2012
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Stories
- Relatives make Iraq damages bid
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| The soldiers were among 179 service personnel who died after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 |
The
families of four UK soldiers killed in Iraq have been told they can sue the
Ministry of Defence for negligence.
The cases
concern a soldier who died in a "friendly fire" incident and three
men killed when their lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers were attacked.
The Court
of Appeal said the families could pursue damages claims against the government.
The MoD
argued decisions about battlefield equipment were for politicians and
commanders, not courts.
But the
Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, described the MoD's arguments to strike
out the claims as "fatally flawed".
Lawyers for
the families say the cases are ultimately concerned with the legal obligations
the military owes to personnel during operations.
'Manifestly
unsuitable'
The UK lost
179 servicemen and women following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 - of which 136
were killed in action.
The Court
of Appeal judgement focused on two areas - whether the MoD owes a duty of care
to soldiers who are killed or injured on the battlefield and whether soldiers
serving abroad fall within Human Rights Act legislation.
One case
concerns two former soldiers and the widow of a serviceman involved in a
friendly fire incident in 2003.
Cpl Stephen
Allbutt, 35, of Sneyd Green in Stoke-on-Trent, died in March 2003, after a Challenger
2 tank was hit by another British Challenger 2 tank. Soldiers Dan Twiddy, of
Stamford in Lincolnshire, and Andy Julien, of Bolton were badly wounded in the
incident.
Cpl
Allbutt's widow Debi and the two survivors argue the tank was not equipped with
available technology to protect them from the risk of friendly fire and say
they had not been provided with adequate vehicle recognition training.
'Milestone
decision'
Mrs
Allbutt's MP, Joan Walley, said: "I am delighted we have reached this
milestone decision.
"The
MoD needs to urgently review whether its current procurement policy to equip
our armed forces is fit for purpose."
The second
case has been brought by lawyers acting for the families of three soldiers
killed by roadside bombs in separate incidents.
Pte Phillip
Hewett, 21, of Tamworth in Staffordshire, died in July 2005 after a Snatch Land
Rover was blown up.
Similar
explosions killed Pte Lee Ellis, 23, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, in
February 2006, and Lance Cpl Kirk Redpath, 22, of Romford, east London, in
August 2007.
Susan Smith
- Pte Hewett's mother - Colin Redpath - L/Cpl Redpath's father - and Karla and
Courtney Ellis - Pte Ellis's sister and daughter - say the men had carried out
high risk patrols in "poorly armoured" vehicles that were
"manifestly unsuitable for the job". The MoD announced a replacement
for the Snatch Land Rover in 2009.
In June
2011 the High Court ruled that claims for negligence could be pursued over the
friendly fire incident, as well as by relatives of Pte Ellis.
But it
threw out a separate application by the families of the Snatch Land Rover
victims that they were entitled to seek damages under the Human Rights Act.
The
families involved in the Human Rights Act decision challenged the ruling.
In his
ruling Lord Neuberger said: "The duty of care owed by the Ministry of
Defence, as employer, to the members of the armed forces, as employees, does
exist and has been recognised, without demur, by the courts. It includes a duty
to provide safe systems of work and safe equipment."
Shubhaa
Srinivasan, a lawyer representing Mrs Allbutt, said: "As a prudent
employer the MoD can have no excuses now and must get on with the business of
ensuring that troops are properly equipped, if not, it can be vulnerable to
negligence claims.
"The
court ruling also makes it clear the MoD can no longer hide behind arguments
relating to complexities in procuring equipment and allocation of scarce
resources to evade a duty of care to adequately equip its servicemen and women
who are being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country."
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