VETERANS SEEK CHEMICAL TEST PAYOUT

VETERANS SEEK CHEMICAL TEST PAYOUT
ANDY GREENWOOD CHIEF REPORTER

11:00 - 29 March 2008



The Ministry of Defence could face another multi-million-pound payout to veterans of secret chemical weapons tests after a group claim was settled earlier this year.

In January, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) apologised to those affected by the trials conducted at the Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down, Wiltshire, from the 1940s to the 1980s.

The MoD also announced it would pay £3 million to 359 veterans, including some from Devon and Cornwall, who had launched a bid for compensation.



Since then, scores of former service personnel have approached solicitors to make further claims.

The first group action was run between solicitors Leigh Day and Co and Thomson Snell and Passmore. Gene Matthews, a senior solicitor at Leigh Day and Co, said: "A further 220 people have come forward, between us and the other firm of solicitors involved.

"Clearly there are many more out there who might be entitled and we are trying to get the information across to them."

Mr Matthews said it was likely that some of those who had now come forward had pulled out of the first action.

He said: "We did have a larger group but we ended up with 359 in the first action. I think people were quite afraid of the risks of being involved in litigation and that put them off.

"The second group is slightly more secure, because of what has happened with the first, and hopefully we can move forward and get them some compensation. For those people who didn't originally come forward, it could make a real difference."

Mr Matthew said veterans of the tests, many of whom say they were tempted by promises of extra pay and leave but thought they were volunteering to find a cure for the common cold, first needed to contact the MoD to check their records.

The deadly nerve agent sarin and mustard gas were among the chemicals that the "guinea pigs" were exposed to.

The MoD has imposed a cut-off date for claims of June 30.

January's out-of-court settlement saw each veteran paid about £8,300. If all new claimants are successful, the MoD will have to pay another £1.8 million.

However, the compensation is less than the 24,000 (£12,000) paid by the Canadian government to servicemen who were subjected to similar tests.

In a written statement to MPs, Defence Minister Derek Twigg said the £3 million was "in full and final settlement" of claims, without admission of liability by the MoD.

He said the Government "sincerely" apologised to those affected.

He added: "The Government has in the past made clear the debt owed by the nation to those who took part in the trials at Porton Down, designed to ensure that the United Kingdom had the defensive capabilities to counter the real and horrific threat that chemical weapons would be used against our armed forces or civilian population, as they had done against others.

"The security of the country rested on these trials and the contribution of those who took part in them."

Are you a veteran of chemical warfare tests at Porton Down? Are you now making a claim against the MoD? If so, call Andy Greenwood at the WMN on 01752 765538. VETERANS SEEK CHEMICAL TEST PAYOUT

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When will the United States take care of the men used at Edgewood Arsenal in the same type of experiments from 1955 thru 1975. Researchers from Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick made many trips to and from Porton Downs even after the Edgewood expseriments ended.

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