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£2m compensation for Iraqi boy shot in Basra

15/04/2008

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to award £2 million in compensation to an Iraqi teenager mistakenly shot by British soldiers in Basra.

The unnamed man, now 17, suffered severe spinal injuries which left him paralysed after an incident in a Basra camp in September 2003 when a British soldier accidentally dropped his rifle, causing the weapon to discharge.

Higher than any compensation settlement offered to British troops injured in Iraq - with a maximum lump sum payment of £285,000 and a lifetime income offered by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme - the decision is likely to ignite controversy over the handling of wounded service personnel.

However, the MoD has denied that the settlement for the teenager - who moved to the UK to begin his claim for compensation - sets a precedent for future cases.

"This settlement follows a civil claim for negligence made through the High Court," a spokesman said.

"This compensation payment cannot be compared like-for-like with the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, which is a no-fault scheme which provides a lump sum up to a maximum of £285,000 and, for the most seriously injured, a guaranteed, tax free, index-linked income for the rest of the claimant's life, which can total many hundreds of thousands of pounds."

Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the MoD's claim that the case was a one-off was "very difficult to believe".

"If Iraqis were able to get access to British courts, they would clearly be entitled to much higher levels of compensation, based on this precedent," he told Channel 4 News.

"The costs of that could be very, very considerable indeed, adding to all the other costs of the Iraq war."