A former Royal Artillery gunner who said he had been left severely disabled as a result of damaging his hands and feet on an Army course has lost a £2.9 million High Court damages claim after a judge concluded he had been “fundamentally dishonest”.
Mr Justice Cotter dismissed Brian Muyepa’s claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a ruling published on Friday following a High Court hearing in London.
Mr Muyepa, 34, who is from Malawi and moved to England to live with his father, a GP in Dover, in 2004, said he suffered a “non-freezing cold injury” while on a promotion course at Sennybridge, near Brecon, in 2016.
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He said “ongoing symptoms” had left him severely disabled and alleged breaches of duty and care.
Lawyers representing the MoD argued that evidence showed he had been “fundamentally dishonest”.
The judge heard that Mr Muyepa had enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Artillery in 2007 and been medically discharged in 2018.
“I find that the claimant began to deliberately and significantly exaggerate symptoms in March/April 2017 in order to secure his discharge from the Army with a payout,” he said, in a written ruling.
“So he was dishonest from a very early stage and before the case was commenced.”
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He added: “I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest in relation to the claim and therefore dismiss it.”
The judge said: “I find that the claimant suffered a minor non-freezing cold injury.
“After an initial period of trying to cope with the symptoms he decided to present a picture to the defendant, his friends, medico-legal experts and the court that he was suffering from a very severe non-freezing cold injury which had left him greatly disabled.
“He fundamentally and persistently transformed the claim by dishonest exaggeration.
“His dishonesty tainted the whole claim from the outset.”
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