A lawyer told the High Court in Belfast yesterday that "ordinary, decent and energetic men and women of the RUC were injured in their minds in the same way as if they were shot or maimed" during the Troubles.
Barrister Stephen Irwin was speaking on the first day of a multi-million pound claim brought by 5,000 serving and retired police officers in Northern Ireland against the Chief Constable and the Police Authority.
The officers are seeking compensation for personal injuries caused by the failure to diagnose or treat post-traumatic stress disorder. The case is the biggest civil action ever to come before a court in the UK and is expected to last up to six months. The officers claim they were not prepared for what they experienced and that adequate support mechanisms were not in place.
Others are fighting for loss of earnings after being medically discharged as a result of what they faced in the line of duty.
In his opening statement to the court on behalf of the claimants, Mr Irwin said the case involved 5,000 police officers, some 2,000 still serving in the force, ranging from the rank of constable to chief superintendent.
He said the RUC "were not awarded the George Cross for nothing . . . it was given to committed and determined individuals, heroes. Ordinary, decent, energetic men and woman who were heroic." Mr Irwin said that for many "it [ serving with the RUC] became too much and they were broken in minds . . . they were injured in their minds . . . in the same way as if they were shot or maimed".
He told the court that "a number killed themselves because of the pressure on their minds . . . their deaths were by their own hand and some using their own service weapons . . . this was the trauma of being in the RUC".
Mr Irwin said police officers faced "hatred day after day from part of the community they served. Physically and mentally, they were at risk as they washed their cars or came out of church. Serving in the RUC at this time was a matter of extreme pressure . . . a risk of severe mental or psychological damage".
"The aim of the IRA was to break the minds of those who stood against them. The RUC stood between the IRA and anarchy." Mr Irwin said that while the case would be "long and costly" all the claimants wanted was "an acknowledgment of what happened and help for those who need it".
Mr Justice Patrick Coghlin is overseeing the case, which proceeded yesterday as a class action with up to 20 individual cases being selected to represent issues common to all claims. The court will sit from Monday to Thursday every week until all the evidence has been heard.