Injured Soldier Forced Out of Britain

This is a story that shames all decent Britons! Politicians, who use and abuse these brave men and women should also be ashamed - but do those pampered fat cats in Westminster even realise what the word ’shame’ means any more?

Originally published in the Birmingham Sunday Mercury this story should be mandatory reading for every jobsworth at the M.O.D, along with their political masters!

Injured soldier leaves Britain because of meagre pension

Jan 13 2008

By Adam Aspinal

A HERO soldier left disabled by a bomb blast has been forced to move to Eastern Europe - because he cannot survive on his meagre Army pension in Britain.

Scott Garthley, 39, was a successful banker on £100,000 per year before he suffered crippling injuries in a Scud missile attack during the second Gulf War.

But the Territorial Army corporal has now been forced to sell his home and spends most of the year in Bulgaria - after being offered just £70 per month pension by the army.

Scott, whose family are from Acocks Green, Birmingham, lives in a modest home in the port city of Varna.

He only returns to Britain for vital medical treatment and to fight an ongoing £2.8 million negligence claim against the Ministry of Defence.

Last night, Scott vowed: “Life in Bulgaria is good simply because it’s cheap and I can afford to live here. Not being able to work has meant the cost of living was just too much for me back home.

“The Army believe I’m only worth a pension of £71.79 a month, on top of my money from the Veterans’ Fund. It’s not much to show for 18 years in the TA serving your country. But the Ministry of Defence don’t seem to care.

“With the cost of my medical care, the only option for me was to sell-up and spend most of my time here in Bulgaria.”

Scott suffered appalling injuries to his shoulders, knees and back in the bomb blast in Kuwait on the first day of the second Gulf War in 2003. His teeth were also broken and he was later diagnosed with internal stomach injuries.

Since the attack - which left him suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - he has been unable to work and his relationship broke up under the strain of his physical and psychological injuries.

Scott has also had to pay more than £60,000 in private hospital bills, just to ensure he received the vital care not offered to him by the MoD.

He had initially received expert medical care in Kuwait and Cyprus before being transferred to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham. Incredibly, he was ordered to take off his uniform at the Midland hospital - in case it offended ethnic minority patients.

Scott has now under-gone more than 20 operations and medics recently discovered neurological damage which has caused his feet to grow by two sizes.

Yet the Ministry of Defence has refused to increase his pension after claiming he is not completely disabled.

Scott explained: “My Army pension is only £71.79 a month because the MoD classify me as only 20 per cent disabled. It has been calculated on the basis of a corporal’s annual pay, which is equivalent to about £23,000.”

Yet Scott also receives £800 a month from the Veterans’ Agency, part of the MoD, as a war disablement pension as it classifies him as 80 per cent disabled.

But even with that entitlement, his current incomings would still far outweigh his outgoings if he were to live in Britain.

Major Charles Heyman, editor of Armed Forces Of The UK magazine, said: “This is an absolute scandal. Scott’s situation is clearly desperate but, sadly, I’m hearing about it all too often these days.

“Soldiers like Scott are being betrayed by the Government who they served without question, and they should be given all the support they need.

“I just hope he gets the support he needs before his negligence case against the Ministry of Defence comes to a conclusion.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “The MoD will pay compensation where it has a legal liability to do so.

“Mr Garthley’s war pension is currently under review and until that process has ended it would be inappropriate to comment.

“As legal proceedings have been served and this case is still ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”