§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many ex-Service men who are at the Chaseley Home, East-bourne, are suffering from injuries received as a result of the accidental discharge of weapons by a fellow Service man.
§ Mr. DuffyThe Chaseley Home, Eastbourne, is administered by the Roehampton Trust and not by the Ministry of Defence, but I understand that there is one such Service man in the Chaseley Home.
§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether he will list the ex gratia payments made by his Department since 1st January 1966 to soldiers or their dependants who have been 32W wounded or killed as a result of accidental shooting by fellow Service men;
(2) in how many cases, where a common law claim is not barred under Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947, an ex gratia payment has been made by his Department where a soldier serving in Northern Ireland has been killed or wounded as a result of the accidental discharge of weapons, since 1st January 1970;
(3) in how many cases since 1st January 1960, an ex gratia payment has been made by his Department to soldiers or their dependants where accidental injury or death has been caused by the negligent discharge of weapons, where a common law claim has not been barred under Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947.
§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers serving in Northern Ireland since 1st January 1973 have been invalided out of the Army as a result of being shot, negligently, by a fellow soldier.
§ Mr. DuffyI would refer the hon. Member to the reply my hon. Friend gave to his similar Question on Tuesday 14th December 1976.—[Vol. 922, c. 666.]
§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many Service men have been wounded or killed in Northern Ireland since 1st January 1973 as a result of the accidental discharge of weapons;
(2) how many cases involving injury to Service men as a result of the accidental discharge of weapons by fellow Service men there have been since 1st January 1970; and in how many such cases since 1st January 1973 charges that resulted have been dealt with by commanding officers and how many by courts martial.
§ Mr. DuffyI can provide information only in respect of Northern Ireland. Excluding deaths which have resulted in criminal proceedings in the civil courts, since 1970, 127 servicemen have received injuries requiring treatment in hospital, and 34 have been killed, as the result of the unauthorised discharge of weapons. The figures since 1973 are 71 and 20 respectively. Information is not available 33W on such incidents elsewhere, or on how charges resulting from all such incidents have been dealt with, and could not be obtained without disproportionate effort.