In July 2005, Pte Phillip Hewett, was killed by a roadside bomb while travelling in a lightly armoured “snatch” Land Rover in Iraq. He was the ninth of 37 service personnel to be killed in the vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, which came to be known as “mobile coffins”. Twelve years later, following a legal…
When Sky News’ Alistair Bunkall posted an opinion piece online in late July chastising the leadership of the Armed Forces and MoD for ducking serious media scrutiny in favour of arranged appearances, it chimed with the impressions of a general disengagement in the vital debates around the future of the UK’s defence and security. Further…
Commenting in today’s Sunday Mirror, Hilary Meredith has called for an urgent review of the treatment of ex-soldiers following the shocking revelations of decorated bomb hero, Wayne Owens. Major Wayne Owens was honoured three times by the Queen, saved countless lives and defused nearly 1000 bombs in Afghanistan. Yet his 27-year decorated career ended with…
A paratrooper injured during a tour of Afghanistan more than a decade ago has been forced to seek legal advice over his aftercare needs. Lance bombardier Ben Parkinson suffered a severe brain injury and lost both his legs after a Land Rover he was travelling in was struck by an anti-tank mine in the North…
A paratrooper injured during a tour of Afghanistan more than a decade ago has been forced to seek legal advice over his aftercare needs. Lance bombardier Ben Parkinson suffered a severe brain injury and lost both his legs after a Land Rover he was travelling in was struck by an anti-tank mine in the North…
More than 40% of maternity wards in England closed their doors to expectant mothers at least once in 2016, reports today suggest. Responding to a Freedom of Information request, 42 out of 96 trusts said they had shut maternity wards temporarily on a total of 382 occasions. The most common reasons given were too few…
There is an excellent blog by Joy Hibbins, founder and director of Suicide Crisis, a charity which runs a Suicide Crisis Centre in Cheltenham, UK in today’s Huffpost. Joy explains why bereaved families need legal support at Inquests and describes how unrepresented families sometimes describe feeling that this is a “David and Goliath” situation. I…
The House of Commons has today debated Government proposals for better combat compensation. Under the proposals, combat immunity – which provides an exemption from legal liability for members of the armed forces and the government – would apply to all claims brought by those in combat, even when failings occurred far from the battlefield. An…
In a welcome development Tobias Ellwood, Minister for Defence People and Veterans, has launched a new initiative to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the Armed Forces, their families, veterans, and Defence civilians. While rates of mental disorder are slightly lower in the Armed Forces (3.2%) than in the general population (3.5%), the challenge…
Hilary Meredith, Chair of Hilary Meredith Solicitors, has been appointed as Visiting Professor of Law and Veterans’ Affairs by the University of Chester. The University of Chester, founded in 1893, is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the country. In her role as Visiting Professor, Hilary will primarily support the outputs of the…
Laws on Wills need an overhaul so they can be written electronically and by people as young as 16, according to a consultation document published today by the Law Commission. While I generally welcome proposals to modernise the law and make it more accessible, I do not believe electronic Wills are the way forward. People…
Family courts are struggling under the pressure of a growing number of disputes over children and finances, new figures show. The figures for the family courts in England and Wales for the first quarter of this year show that, in all, 65,714 cases were started in the family courts in that period, up by 4…
There have been calls over the weekend for the SAS to be investigated over allegations special forces illegally killed dozens of people during the war in Afghanistan. Alongside an investigation by the Royal Military Police, a civil claim is being brought alleging special forces unlawfully killed civilians in Helmand Province during a hunt for Taliban…
Airlines are cheating passengers out of millions of pounds in compensation for delayed flights, an investigation has found. Ryanair, British Airways, Norwegian, Thomson and Emirates are among the worst offenders, the consumer group Which? claims. Passengers flying from the EU or with an EU airline are entitled to up to £530 if their flight is…
The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) officially closes today, 30 June 2017. This follows the decision in February to bring IHAT to an end by the summer, enabled by the striking off of Mr Phil Shiner. The remaining cases, expected to number around 20, will now be dealt with by the Service Police – a…
Hundreds of armed forces service personnel are leaving their death in service benefits to the wrong person, it has emerged. Hilary Meredith Solicitors has been made aware of a situation where a serviceman was asked to nominate someone to receive his death in service benefit relating to his armed forces pension lump sum some years…
There has been a great deal of publicity in recent weeks about the spike in holiday sickness claims, with talk of UK holidaymakers being banned from all-inclusive breaks unless they stop making bogus food poisoning claims. The Government is set to act against firms who break the rules and encourage holidaymakers to make fraudulent sickness…
The Medical Protection Society issued its report on Friday – The Rising Costs of Clinical Negligence: Who pays the Price? The report states that there should be reasonable compensation for those harmed due to clinical negligence, but that this must be balanced against society’s ability to pay. The report goes on to state that NHS…
We welcome the government’s proposals to crack down on fraudulent whiplash claims – as long as the focus is on reducing fraudulent claims and better regulation of claims management companies and not taking away the rights of victims to recover compensation. All our staff are trained to identify potentially fraudulent cases. We believe anti-fraud training…