Soldier ‘faked trench foot with ice’ for £3.7m

A SOLDIER faked trench foot by wrapping his feet in ice packs before trying to claim £3.7 million in damages from the Ministry of Defence, a court has heard.

Brian Muyepa, 32, said he suffered severe injuries after being left in wet boots for over five hours during a training exercise in a water-filled tunnel in 2016. However, he is now facing accusations of fraud for allegedly “putting ice packs around his feet to fool the diagnostic tests”.

The former Royal Artillery gunner sued the MOD for £3.7million, including more than £800,000 for the loss of his Army career and £1.7million to pay for carers for the rest of his life. He said he had been left with crippling pain in his hands and feet and was discharged in 2018.

Alarm bells began to ring after a video of the ex-soldier dancing at a barbecue emerged, which the MOD said showed him to be “much more mobile” than he had made out. The video, posted on Facebook by his wife this year, also led to accusations that he had “exaggerated the claim”.

MOD lawyers are applying to withdraw an admission that the Army breached its duty of care towards Mr Muyepa. The lawyers are to amend their defence to accuse him of lying to “fool” them.

Andrew Ward, an MOD barrister, told Judge John Kimbell QC at the High Court that a new witness would testify in the case. He said they would say Mr Muyepa “discussed with someone else packing ice blocks around his feet to fool the diagnostic infrared thermography tests” before his feet were examined at the Institute of Naval Medicine, in Gosport, Hants.

“Our case is that the claim is entirely fraudulent,” Mr Ward told the judge.

Mr Muyepa enlisted in the Royal Artillery as a gunner in 2007 and joined 40 Regiment and later 47 Regiment. He says his injury occurred on a exercise in Sennybridge, Wales, in March 2016.

He was diagnosed with non-freezing cold injury, a condition characterised by pain in the extremities and an oversensitivity to cold. Commonly experienced by servicemen, it was first noted in the trenches of Europe during the First World War, resulting in the term “trench foot.”

Mr Muyepa denies all the allegations of dishonesty and exaggeration and is pressing on with his claim. A trial will be held later this year.