Injured engineer loses MoD claim

An electrical engineer has lost a landmark case in which he sought damages from the Ministry of Defence and his employers over severe injuries suffered while travelling in Basra in a civilian Land Rover.

Graham Hopps, who was working under contract with the MoD, claimed that he had been left vulnerable to attacks because the military had failed to transport him in an armoured vehicle. In his ruling at the High Court Mr Justice Christopher Clarke stated that although the number of attacks at the time of the incident appeared to be increasing, their nature and the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) involved – and their consequences – did not seem such that armoured vehicles should have been ordered for civilian contractors. He added that he was not satisfied that the level of risk from IED attacks was such that Mr Hopps should have been confined to the compound until an armoured vehicle was available to transport him. Dismissing Mr Hopps' case, he said: "The fact that I have done so in no way reduces the great credit due to him for the contribution which, at much personal cost, he has made to improving the lot of the Iraqi people." Mr Hopps, 45, of Leeds, who worked for the Mott MacDonald company, had his right arm and shoulder shattered and hearing damaged by the blast. Mr Hopps said he did not plan to appeal against the ruling.