NUCLEAR test veterans face an anxious wait to see whether they can continue their fight for compensation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) following a Supreme Court hearing.
A campaign has been waged for years by ex-servicemen including Archie Ross, of Church Gresley, who say they were treated like ‘guinea pigs’ during nuclear tests in the 1950s.
Men across the country claim they were made ill or passed on health problems to their families after they were exposed to radiation during British A-bomb tests without being given adequate protection.
Last week the veterans’ battle for justice returned to the Supreme Court in London, where campaigners faced a fresh legal challenge.
The MoD has always denied liability for the health problems suffered by veterans exposed to radiation during a number of tests, but veterans’ barrister James Dingemans QC said the MoD had refuted the claimants’ evidence of radiation poisoning because they had only taken notice of gamma radiation when, in fact, more insidious alpha and beta radiation forms had caused long-term problems for thousands of servicemen.
If their case is a success, veterans are likely to have their cases heard at the High Court next year.
The hearing ended on Thursday but a verdict is not expected until closer to Christmas.
More than 1,000 former servicemen were able to continue their fight earlier this year after it was revealed that three Supreme Court judges in London said that they could appeal against an earlier decision to block attempts to claim damages.
Mr Ross said: “This has been a long time coming and hopefully the Government will follow nations across the world by acknowledging what happened and it is my belief that they will now settle.”
The MoD has always acknowledged a ‘debt of gratitude’ to the veterans but has denied negligence.
