Injury Lawyers Under Pressure To Stay Loyal

Recent news stories have revealed that nine Iraqi civilians have been awarded almost £1 million in compensation following abuse from British troops; an award that could set an interesting precedent.

This ruling has sparked fears within the industry as it has been noted that many British lawyers encouraged Iraqi civilians to start proceedings for a possible claim, in order to have the chance of receiving a huge handout.

However many within the country are appalled at the difference in amount paid to Iraqi civilians, as opposed to British citizens who are injured during war and as such blame the compensation culture, which has affected this country over the last few years.

Perversely any such payments made to injured British troops is capped at the £570,000 mark, meaning any such claim, no matter how serious could never top the million mark.

Award

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has actually paid out around £4 million to Iraqi civilians over the past a year, people who claimed they were direct innocent victims during the war.

A relative of such a British victim spoke of their anger at the discrepancy between the two sums.

"It is very hard to bear. People are sick of seeing huge sums awarded for what seems like the wrong reason, when soldiers who have lost everything get such small amounts for the right reasons. But I'm not angry, just despondent. This makes me feel that life is not worth as much as other people and on top of an already terrible situation that is very hard." She commented.

An MoD spokesperson attempted to diffuse the situation by stating: "Claims submitted in respect of this case were settled out of court on an amicable basis. The terms of that settlement are confidential between the parties concerned. We must never forget that well over a hundred thousand of our personnel have served in Iraq, with bravery and distinction."

They added: "Only a tiny number have fallen short of the Army's high standards, but even a tiny number is unacceptable and we must understand as fully as possible what happened and learn lessons from this incident."

However the chorus of disapproval could be heard all over the country.

Objection

One senior defence source said: "It is quite right that the Iraqis should be compensated. What happened to them was despicable. But look at the size of the awards and compare those to what soldier's such as****** have received" it is disproportionately offensive.

They continued, "It can't be right that someone who was humiliated is effectively given a bigger pay out than someone who has lost both legs and suffered brain damage."

Patrick Mercer, the MP for Newark and a former infantry officer, added: "The disparity between these claims and those which have been received by servicemen with very serious injuries is very hard to understand.

"Certainly the Iraqis must be compensated but there must not be this degree of disparity between these claims and those of our fighting forces."