Scientist gets payout for Afghan bomb injuries

A British scientist who suffered lifechanging injuries when a booby trap declared safe by military experts exploded in front of him has won a six-figure compensation payout from the Ministry of Defence.

Lee Peters, 51, feared he would bleed to death when the device, which had been deemed low priority by security, blew up.

The scientist had been working in the MoD laboratory in Kandahar during the Afghan war in 2011 when he was asked to forensically test a suspicious package deemed safe.

He suffered permanent damage to his eyesight and lost three fingers on his left hand. He said: “As soon as I heard the bang, I was under no illusion as to what I was facing... everything went in slow motion.

“I thought I would die because there was so much blood.” Mr Peters was rescued by a colleague who heard shouting. He said: “Initially I wasn’t worried about my hand as it only felt like I had been punched in it.

“It was my sight I was frantic about – I could barely see.”

Mr Peters was rushed to hospital where surgeons worked for 13 hours in an attempt to save his hand.

The chemical weapon was thought to be a replica of a Russian landmine detonator.

Mr Peters, from Wrangle, Lincolnshire, a married father-of-two, said he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder following the blast. He said: “My forensic career is over and I really loved what I did.”

Tracey Benson, Mr Peters’ lawyer with Slater and Gordon, said the MoD demonstrated “shocking negligence”.

“Not only did it strip Lee of his career but his wife had to leave her job, too (to care for him).”