Veterans sue MoD for £500m

Military veterans are today launching a £500 million High Court action against the Ministry of Defence in Britain's largest-ever post-traumatic stress disorder case.

Almost 1,900 men and women who served in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia or the Gulf plan to sue the MoD for medical negligence, saying their condition went undiagnosed and untreated while they were in service. The case, expected to last five months, will initially involve 260 veterans. Another 1,600 are also preparing to launch legal proceedings.

The court will hear that, at 264, the number of Falklands War veterans who have committed suicide since the conflict exceeds the 255 killed in action.

The veterans claim they were never warned about the possible effects of action and have been emotionally scarred and in some cases unable to work.

The judge, Mr Justice Owen, will be asked to award them damages as compensation.

The prosecution's case is likely to draw heavily on the evidence of the former director-general of the Army Medical Service, Major General Robin Short, who planned Britain's medical deployment in the Gulf War. He has said that soldiers should have had better support from their former employer.

The MoD says it cannot comment on the case. A spokesman said it "does acknowledge that some members of the Armed Forces may, in the course of their careers, be subjected to traumatic experiences and may suffer stress as a result". But he warned: "This does not necessarily mean the MoD has been negligent or that the individual will receive compensation".