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MoD Wins Appeal Over Damages For Atomic Test Subjects

ramonmercado

ramonmercado

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Shameful. Judiciary collaborates with MoD.

MoD wins appeal over damages for atomic test subjects
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11810527

Nuclear tests Nuclear testing was carried out on Christmas Island in the South Pacific
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The Ministry of Defence has won its appeal against a decision to allow veterans who took part in nuclear tests to claim damages.

Ten of the 1,011 ex-servicemen launched test cases against the MoD, blaming atomic experiments in the South Pacific in the 1950s for their ill health.

But judges say nine cases - which the MoD opposed - were launched outside the legal time limit and cannot proceed.

They also said they had no evidence to show the tests were to blame.

At the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, Britain carried out a series of nuclear weapons tests in mainland Australia, the Montebello Islands off the west Australian coast and on Christmas Island in the South Pacific.

The men involved want compensation for illnesses - including cancer, skin defects and fertility problems - which they claim are the result of exposure to radiation.
'Dead or untraceable'

The MoD has acknowledged its "debt of gratitude" to them, but denies any negligence.

It has also argued that the cases could not proceed because more than 90% of the 114 essential witnesses responsible for the planning and execution of the tests were dead or untraceable.

Lady Justice Smith, Lord Justice Leveson and Sir Mark Waller, sitting at the Court of Appeal, ruled on Monday that only the case of the late Bert Sinfield - which the MoD had not opposed - was entitled to proceed to trial.
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“Start Quote

A war pension is not as financially beneficial as common law damages but it is some compensation”

End Quote Lady Justice Smith Court of Appeal judge

The rest were time barred - ruled out because they were outside the legal time limit - and the judges said they had declined to use their discretion to allow them to proceed because they could see no evidence by which the veterans could hope to prove that their illnesses had probably been caused by radiation exposure.

Lady Justice Smith said: "We have no doubt that it will appear that the law is hard on people like these claimants who have given service to their country and may have suffered harm as a result.

"No doubt partly with this background in mind, Parliament has provided that servicemen who have been exposed to radiation which might have caused them injury will be entitled to a war pension.
Supreme Court

"Of course, a war pension is not as financially beneficial as common law damages but it is some compensation.

"Of particular importance on this issue, on an application for a war pension, the burden of proving causation is reversed; thus, the MoD has to exclude the possibility that the applicant has been harmed by radiation."

Solicitor Neil Sampson, for the veterans, said after the ruling that he expected to take the case to the Supreme Court.
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“Start Quote

The court accepted arguments that the general merits of the claims were extremely weak”

End Quote Andrew Robathan Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans

"This is so that the nine claimants who the court has said are time barred can proceed together with any others in the claimant group who may fall within the same categories as those the court has barred," he said.

Mr Sampson has previously urged the government to settle the case out of court.

The US has awarded compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to veterans, including at least one Briton, involved in nuclear testing in the 1960s.

The Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Andrew Robathan, welcomed the judges' decision.

"While I have tremendous sympathy with anyone who is ill, the court accepted arguments that the general merits of the claims were extremely weak and said that the claimants had produced no evidence to link illnesses with attendance at the nuclear tests," he said.

"We recognise the invaluable contribution of all service personnel who took part in the nuclear testing programme. We are grateful to them for the part they played in ensuring UK security.
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Nuclear test veterans in Supreme Court appeal bid
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14320465

Veterans involved in Britain's nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s have taken their case for compensation to the Supreme Court.

More than 1,000 ex-servicemen say exposure to radiation during tests conducted between 1952 and 1958 left them with ill health.
They want to overturn a lower court ruling that nine out of 10 "lead" cases were brought too late to be heard.

The Ministry of Defence maintains no "causal" link can be proved.
Lawyers for the 1,011 veterans are asking the Supreme Court for permission to be allowed to argue their right to seek damages. If the judges agree, the court would then hear their case later this year.
If the Supreme Court then ruled their claims could go ahead, a hearing for damages would take place in the High Court.
A lawyer for some of the veterans, James Dingemans QC, told the Supreme Court judges that the ruling by the Appeal Court preventing the case from going ahead had been "unfair".
"To have driven these people [out] without a hearing, without even cross-examination... is, we submit, wrong," he said.
Lawyers for the MoD maintained the cases had been brought too late and said the veterans would not be able to "show any causation" if they did proceed.
'No protection'
Veterans have been battling since 2004 for recompense and a recognition of their claim that their poor health was caused by radiation exposure.
Chronic health problems cited by them include cancers, skin defects, fertility problems and birth defects in their children.
The UK carried out a series of nuclear weapons tests in mainland Australia, the Montebello islands off the west Australian coast and on Christmas Island, in the Pacific, in the 1950s.
Those tests were conducted against a backdrop of decolonisation and the growing Cold War threat, with the UK desperate to establish and show itself as a nuclear power.
Ken McGinley, a veteran from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, told the BBC: "On Christmas Island I witnessed five bomb tests. Basically we had no protection and warnings at all.
"All we were told to do was to stand and look at the bomb [and] cover our eyes up in case we got blinded by the flash."
In June 2009, the High Court gave the current group of veterans the right to sue the Ministry of Defence.
Veterans who served in the Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force - as well as personnel from New Zealand and Fiji - were all exposed to radiation.
In 1998, research from Durham University suggested that one in three servicemen exposed to the tests died from bone cancers or leukaemia linked to the atomic and hydrogen bomb tests.
Last year the appeal judges said nine test cases had been launched outside the legal time limit and so stopped them from proceeding.
The one case that was allowed to go ahead related to a man who had already died, Bert Sinfield.
BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the nuclear veterans are dying at a rate of around three every month but those who remain say they are determined to continue their court battle.

Lawyers say several of the other veterans involved in the current Supreme Court action have now died.
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This story hasn't gone away.

A British nuclear weapons tests veteran has called for a government apology after claiming his health was damaged by radiation from the blasts.

John Ward, 80, from Chesterfield, was sent to Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, in the 1950s to witness atomic and hydrogen bomb explosions.

He said his cancer was related to radiation he was exposed to.

The Ministry of Defence said there was no "valid evidence" linking the nuclear tests to ill health.

Mr Ward, who spent the rest of his working life as a journalist, was one of 22,000 servicemen who were sent to the South Pacific in 1957 to observe the weapons being detonated.

Mr Ward said: "When the bombs went off, particularly the H-bombs, if you put your hands over your eyes, with your back to the explosion, you could see the bones in your hands. The sound was dramatic and the wind rush was terrific, it nearly knocked you over. When you turned around and looked at the mushroom cloud going up, the intensity of the light was dramatic."

Douglas Hern, of British Nuclear Test Veterans' Association, said: "If you were at these test, you know what a piece of meat feels like when it is microwaved. We have lived with the trauma of the tests and the consequences through our families and it would be nice to be recognised and valued for what we did for our country."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-derbyshire-44508192
 
The fight for justice continues.

The daughter of a man who witnessed a British nuclear test in the 1950s has demanded a "Hillsborough-level" apology 70 years after the first detonation.

Elin Doyle said her father Mike Doyle and many others had not seen justice. Her father suffered ill-health, as did her sibling, which they blamed on the tests, she said. The government said the veterans helped keep Britain safe.

The first test, Operation Hurricane, took place on 3 October 1952. Veterans will join a service in Kent on Tuesday.

Mr Doyle, a technician and civil servant, was present at a later test - Operation Grapple in 1957 - for his national service. His daughter said he witnessed that explosion with his back to the blast, his hands over his eyes, and without protective clothing. She said he described an intense heat as his back grew hot, and how he believed the men who were present were "going to burn".

Ms Doyle said her father developed a rare condition, cardiac sarcoidosis, had a heart attack at the age of 48, and lived with heart disease until he died aged 67.

Her sibling was born with a birth defect that her parents immediately attributed to the tests.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-63079621
 
My father was subject to this. Died at 50 from cancer (non-smoker). Then again, he survived most of his regiment. People were experimented upon.
 
l worked briefly with a man who was involved in Operation Grapple. He mentioned that, when one of the devices was tested, he and other servicemen were instructed to sit on the deck of their warship (20(?) miles from Ground Zero) with their backs toward the blast, eyes closed and hands over their eyes.

When the bomb went off, the flash was so brilliant that he could see the bones of his hands.

Alleged health effects of Op. Grapple.

maximus otter
 
Pretty shameful episode really. Much worse than service personnel being used in effect as cannon fodder during the wars.
 
maximus otter said:
l worked briefly with a man who was involved in Operation Grapple. He mentioned that, when one of the devices was tested, he and other servicemen were instructed to sit on the deck of their warship (20(?) miles from Ground Zero) with their backs toward the blast, eyes closed and hands over their eyes.

When the bomb went off, the flash was so brilliant that he could see the bones of his hands.

Alleged health effects of Op. Grapple.

maximus otter
Click to expand...
It's been documented that if you close your eyes and cover them with you hands, high energy ionising radiation that passes through your optic nerve does generate a flash of light. The EMP burst alone would probably cause you to see a brilliant flash.
 
Some recognition at last.

Veterans who took part in the UK's nuclear testing programme will receive a new medal after years of campaigning.

About 22,000 veterans will be eligible for the Nuclear Test Medal, introduced to mark 70 years since the first test. Downing Street said the honour commemorates the contributions made by veterans, scientists and local employees from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Kiribati.

A service is being held at the National Memorial Arboretum on Monday.

The announcement comes after groups including the Labrats International charity spent several years campaigning for atomic test survivors to be recognised.

Alan Owen, who founded the charity for atomic test survivors, was inspired after his father James, from Cheltenham, took part in the nuclear testing on Christmas Island in 1962 when he was 21. His father died from heart conditions at the age of 52 in 1994, but Mr Owen kept campaigning over the years for veterans to be honoured with a medal for their services.

He said: "It's great the government is starting to recognise the veterans. For me it is going to be an emotional day because I will be representing him and my sister will be there and we will be laying flowers in his memory." ...

It represents an about turn for the government, which previously said those who took part in the nuclear tests would not be eligible for a medal.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63702931
 
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