State wins stay on payout as appeal proceeds

An award of almost £219,000 in damages and costs to a former soldier arising from the State's failure to recognise and treat …

An award of almost £219,000 in damages and costs to a former soldier arising from the State's failure to recognise and treat his posttraumatic stress disorder has major and serious implications for the State, the High Court was told yesterday.

Mr Justice Budd agreed to grant the State a three-week stay on the award, made last week to Mr David McHugh, Bargy Road, East Wall, Dublin. This will give the State time to apply to the Supreme Court for an early hearing of its appeal against the award.

At the end of the three weeks, Mr Justice Budd said, the State must pay out £25,050 to Mr McHugh. This was the sum of money lodged in court by the State before the High Court hearing of the action.

When granting the award to Mr McHugh last week, the judge found the Army authorities had been negligent in failing to recognise Mr McHugh's post-traumatic stress condition and failing to refer him for medical help following incidents while he was serving in Lebanon.

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Yesterday Mr Sean Ryan SC, for the State, said the case had major and serious implications for his clients. Both sides might view it as a landmark decision.

Mr Justice Budd said he was concerned that an appeal should be heard as quickly as possible as he feared delay could have a detrimental effect on Mr McHugh's condition.

He noted that of 20 "Army deafness" cases which the State had appealed to the Supreme Court, only one had come before that court.

Mr Bruce Antoniotti SC, for Mr McHugh, said it seemed, so far as the Minister for Defence was concerned, that "the penny had not dropped".

The Minister appeared to believe Mr McHugh got £219,000 because a gun had been discharged over his head and because he had been exposed to mutilated corpses while serving in the Lebanon, counsel said. That also appeared to be the view of the Army Chief-of-Staff.

Mr Justice Budd said Mr McHugh had suffered a personality change due to the culpable negligence of his Army officers in Ireland and in Lebanon. He had lost thousands of pounds through loss of earnings and had had to pay out for his own medicine.

The judge said the evidence was that Mr McHugh had been a veteran who had been reduced to weeping and crying and exhibiting all the symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome. When he had returned home from Lebanon nothing was done about his condition.

He was concerned about further delays. Mr McHugh had suffered a personality change. It seemed some of his experiences were like those of a man trying to climb into a lifeboat but who had had his hands kicked when trying to do so.

Mr Ryan said he undertook to try and get the State's appeal heard as rapidly as possible.