The Case

Rifleman M was required to take part in a military exercise involving several live-firing exercises. He was not permitted to wear Amplivox ear defenders, and Peltor ear defenders were only issued personnel of a certain rank, which Rifleman M had yet to reach. He had misplaced his Surefire ear defenders, and despite asking on several occasions, he had not been issued with replacements.

On the first day of the exercise, Rifleman M and his colleagues were ordered to form a baseline position. The linesman on the exercise was driving a vehicle from which he would fire 50 calibre rounds from a heavy machine gun (‘HMG’). This vehicle was positioned around 5-10 metres from where Rifleman M was situated. When the order was given, the linesman began to fire, and Rifleman M felt a “pop” in his left ear, and his hearing became instantly muffled, and loud noises caused a sharp stabbing pain in the ear. He reported the incident to his superior and was told that it would probably settle down after a few days. It did not, and Rifleman M underwent audiograms and was found to have suffered hearing loss, graded H1:H3 and was subsequently diagnosed with catastrophic tinnitus.

Joining the Army was Rifleman M’s lifelong ambition, but he was advised that his hearing was no longer compatible with a role in the infantry. He was offered an alternative role, but this was not what he had enlisted for. He was, therefore, discharged on the grounds that his service was no longer required, and he was deemed medically unsuitable for service.

Rifleman M needed a hearing aid in his left ear, but even with the aid, he struggled to hear people talking to him in some situations, often in the presence of background noise. He also struggled to hear colleagues and had to use his right ear when on the phone. His tinnitus was intrusive and caused him to avoid social occasions.

He was deemed unfit for many occupations that required normal or near normal pure tone audiometry for entry.

Rifleman M contacted JMW Solicitors LLP and we were able to obtain expert evidence to demonstrate his hearing loss and the particular difficulties associated with one-sided hearing loss, including speech recognition and sound location. Rifleman M was a keen cyclist but his difficulty in perceiving the direction of noise made this hazardous.

How JMW Helped

We obtained expert evidence to show what Rifleman M could have achieved in the Army had he not been injured. A claim was made to the MOD for compensation for his injuries, loss of earnings, loss of military benefits, loss of pension and loss of career. It also included a claim for hearing aids, a tinnitus sound generator, and an aid to assist his cycling, plus the cost of replacing these items throughout his lifetime.

Following a settlement meeting, we were able to negotiate a six-figure settlement for Rifleman M.