Solider’s No Win No Fee Claim for Compensation
A FORMER army corporal from Blyth who was told to ‘act like a psycho’ during a training exercise has been awarded £25,000 after a resulting injury cut short his army career.
Daniel Brosnan was serving with the Second Battalion Royal Fusiliers in Northern Ireland when he dislocated his shoulder during a riot control training exercise at police headquarters in November 2003.
During the exercise, 34-year-old Mr Brosnan was put in a cell, told to pretend he had been drinking, and act like a psycho, while the rest of his company entered the cell in groups of three to restrain him.
Mr Brosnan feared he had broken his arm after he was jumped on by his colleagues and felt his arm ‘pop’, but the exercise was allowed to continue despite him asking for it to stop.
It was exacerbated when he was kicked in the same arm.
As a result, Mr Brosnan was medically discharged from the army, and required several operations, extensive physiotherapy, and to this day still suffers from the injury.
But he received the compensation after receiving help from personal injury law fir
m Irwin Mitchell, and its solicitor Matthew Garson said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the case but disappointed it had to go to court before liability was accepted by the Ministry of Defence.
“The level of compensation reflects the fact that Mr Brosnan’s livelihood has been affected by this injury.
“It was a particularly bad dislocation to his dominant right shoulder – he was discharged as a result and his choice of future employment has been narrowed.
“Mr Brosnan was taking part in a routine training exercise but was given no protective clothing and only minimal and inappropriate protective equipment, while the exercise was allowed to continue even after he was injured.
“All employers – especially those in high-risk areas such as the forces, should provide the correct equipment and follow exemplary safety procedures, even if it is only part of a training exercise.”