Soldier Wins £25,000 Compensation

A soldier who dislocated his shoulder after being ordered to ‘act like a psycho’ during a training exercise has been awarded £25,000 in compensation.

Daniel Brosnan, 34, brought the claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after the injury forced him to retire from the Army on medical grounds.

Mr Brosnan was serving in Northern Ireland as a Corporal with the Second Battalion Royal Fusiliers and had been taking part in a drill at a police facility in County Antrim. He was put in a cell and was told to pretend he had been drinking. His colleagues then entered the cell in groups and attempted to restrain him. During one of these exercises he felt his shoulder pop when a colleague jumped on him. He asked for the exercise to be stopped, but his wish wasn’t granted. He was later kicked in the same arm.

Mr Brosnan’s injury, a bad dislocation of his dominant right shoulder, required several operations as well as extensive physiotherapy. However, he still suffers from restricted movement of his arm and is in frequent pain. He has now been medically discharged from the Army.

The MoD accepted liability for the injury and agreed an out of court settlement of £25,000. This reflects the fact that Mr Brosnan's choice of future career has been restricted by his injury.

Employers have a duty to provide employees with suitable personal protective clothing or equipment to guard against health and safety hazards, especially when they are asked to engage in dangerous activities. In this case, Mr Brosnan had not been given any protection to guard against injury when he was ordered to undertake an activity where the possibility that he could be hurt was foreseeable. Protection should have been provided when exposing him to this level of risk.

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