Flown to UK, Iraqis making £280k claim against our troops
TWO Iraqis have been flown to Britain to claim more than a quarter of a million pounds in compensation after they were detained by UK troops.
In the first High Court case of its kind, suspected insurgent Abd AlWaheed is demanding up to £233,000 after he was held for 44 days in 2007.
Documents seen by the Mail reveal his claim includes potential payouts for ‘damage to teeth’ and ‘loss of earnings’.
Kamil Najim Alseran is claiming as much as £46,000 after he was detained for 52 days following his arrest a week after the start of the Iraq War in March 2003.
Mr Al-Waheed, whom soldiers believed to be a bomb maker, became the first claimant to come before an English judge to give evidence in person this week after being flown in from Basra.
On day four of the five-week hearing yesterday, former soldiers were dragged before the judge to describe what happened nearly a decade ago.
A Mail campaign – calling for an end to the witch-hunt against British troops – has revealed how the Ministry of Defence has paid out £22million in compensation so far to Iraqi civilians. But in previous cases the Iraqis did not have to come before a judge.
Instead, their written submissions were filed by lawyers.
The MoD is fighting the latest case amid fears more than 600 similar claims could be lodged.
According to soldiers, they came across Mr Al-Waheed, 53, on a sofa handling a deadly roadside bomb, in a house which contained mortars and plastic explosives. But the three-times married father of eight denied the claims, telling the court he was asleep in bed with his wife.
He alleged that the British soldiers beat him using rifle butts before taking him to Basra airport and torturing him with ‘electric cutters’, used to pinch his flesh during interrogation.
Derek Sweeting QC, for the MoD, accused Mr Al-Waheed of ‘making it up’. The Iraqi is being represented by controversial human rights firm Leigh Day, which has faced accusations of hounding British troops with compensation claims.
Documents show Mr Al-Waheed is seeking £98,000 in basic damages, and Mr Alseran £30,000.
Mr Al-Waheed’s claim includes £19,000 for 44 days of imprisonment, £12,000 for assault, £930 for damage to teeth, £15,000 for a back injury and up to £41,675 for psychiatric injuries.
Mr Alseran is claiming up to £5,000 for assault, £525 for physical injuries and £4,450 for posttraumatic stress disorder. They are both also seeking damages under the Human Rights Act, which amount to up to £45,000 for Mr Al-Waheed and £19,000 for Mr Alseran.
In addition, the pair have asked for £24,500 and £7,500 respectively in ‘moral damages’, which ‘reflects the impact of egregious behaviour by a defendant’.
They are also seeking thousands of pounds to cover past and future losses, including loss of earnings, previous travel costs and medical expenses.
In total, Mr Al-Waheed is claiming as much as £232,964 and Mr Alseran as much as £45,789.
While the pair attempt to sue Britain for hundreds of thousands, soldiers injured fighting for the UK receive rather less.
MoD guidance says a fractured skull warrants £5,775 in compensation, while nerve damage could see a payout of £40,000.
Just weeks before Mr AlWaheed’s arrest in 2007, Private Luke Simpson, 21, was killed when an IED (improvised explosive device) went off close to his armoured vehicle.
Mr Al-Waheed was suspected of being an insurgent from the Mahdi Army. When soldiers arrived at the property in Basra where he was arrested they found mortars, plastic explosives and IED parts. Giving evidence Captain Gareth Fulton, who led the raid, was adamant the detainee was not assaulted. Mr AlWaheed’s lawyers say his arrest was a case of mistaken identity.
Victims of a toxic waste scandal in Ivory Coast have won a High Court action against British Law firm Leigh Day.
The lawyers represented 30,000 claimants who fell ill after an alleged dump in 2006 by oil giant Trafigura. But some said Leigh Day failed to ensure £6million in settlement cash reached them as it was put into a bank account ‘vulnerable to dishonest claims’.
Leigh Day was yesterday told it had failed in its duty of care. Damages will now be agreed.