Gulf War Syndrome soldier wins claim

A British soldier has won his claim for an army pension after a tribunal accepted that a link existed between his medical condition and Gulf War Syndrome. The ruling could help hundreds of other servicemen win compensation.

Alex Izett, 33, a former lance-corporal with the Royal Engineers, described the judgment by the War Pensions Appeal Tribunal as a "watershed" in the battle to have Gulf War Syndrome officially recognised.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) does not agree with the tribunal's finding, but cannot appeal it on any point of law.

Last year another soldier, Shaun Rusling, a former sergeant in the Parachute Regiment, won his claim for a pension on the basis that his medical condition could also be attributed to Gulf War Syndrome. The MoD has appealed that ruling in a case to be determined by the High Court when it delivers its judgment later this month.

More than 2,000 hope to sue for compensation, but the MoD argues that there is no evidence of a common illness directly attributable to the 1991 Gulf War. The MoD recognises "symptoms and signs of ill-defined conditions" (SSIDC), which satisfied Mr Rusling's pension claim, and says the tribunal wrongly concerned itself with the "label" of Gulf War Syndrome.

After fighting a long battle to establish his entitlements, Mr Rusling, 44, now receives a 90 per cent disablement war pension, based on the MoD's diagnosis of SSIDC. But he has continued to fight for official recognition of Gulf War Syndrome, which sufferers say causes symptoms such as fatigue, fever and depression.

Mr Izett, who never went to the Gulf but was given several drugs in preparation for a posting, said he had been through hell during the past 10 years as he fought the MoD for "justice". Mr Izett, from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire but who now lives in Germany, has suffered from osteoporosis for the past eight years. He has twice tried to kill himself.

The judgment, which was given in December, ruled that he should receive a pension in recognition of the physical harm he suffered as a result of his service.

The decision came to light yesterday because the Government's War Pensions Agency has only just handed over the paperwork to Mr Izett.