£250,000 for SAS man's partner

The girlfriend of an SAS trooper killed rescuing hostages in Sierra Leone said today she had yet to decide whether to accept a one-off payment of £250,000 offered by the Ministry of Defence instead of a full widow's pension.

Anna Homsi, who had been with Trooper Brad Tinnion for 10 years, has been threatening to sue the Government unless she receives the same pension as that given to the widow of a soldier killed in action.

At the time of his death in Operation Barras in September last year, she was pregnant and later gave birth to daughter Georgia.

Today the MoD said it was making the offer because of Ms Homsi's unique circumstances, but it was non-negotiable and should not be seen as a precedent for other unmarried partners.

Ms Homsi said: "I want to see the small print before I accept it. I am not scoffing at it, but it still doesn't recognise me as Brad's partner and it doesn't help others who may be in the same position."

Her solicitor Tom Reah said: "After due consideration we'll respond. She is very pleased with the progress we've made to date, but the £250,000 has been offered in respect of the parental responsibility she'll have to undertake. If she got the full war pension as a widow she'd have got almost double that."

He said Ms Homsi would have to consider whether to hold out for a change in the law which would put live-in partners on an equal footing with married couples.

Georgia had been awarded a pension of £2,000 a year until she is 17 after months of haggling with the MoD to bend the rules. Miss Homsi has been supported by MP Paul Keetch, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, who is reported to have advised her to accept the award.

But Miss Homsi has also received some advice from actuaries that she might expect twice the sum offered by the Government.

Mr Tinnion was killed when an SAS rescue mission came under intense fire during the rescue of seven hostages held by the so-called West Side Boys at their camp near Freetown. He was badly wounded and later died aboard the RFA Sir Percivale, a Navy support ship.

He was posthumously awarded a Mention in Despatches, the oldest gallantry award in the British Army.

The war widow's pension already takes longterm partners into account, but only where they are supported by the soldier for six months before he joined the Army. Mr Tinnion joined the Army when he was 17, before he and Miss Homsi lived together.