The Disposable Soldier/Citizen UK Appeal/
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James Wells Jnr v MoD
Registered in the High Court London on the 5 February 1996 and still Live to date.
My name is Jimmy Wells I am a 41 year old ex-soldier who has been discarded by the British Army because I was unfit to serve after being physically shot up in Northern Ireland and mentally shot up ever since by the Country I served.
Background
I was brought up in the shadow of Ben Nevis in the Highland Region of Scotland by a mother and father who taught me honesty and hard work were the only way to happiness in life. The other key factors in my upbringing were that I was taught to respect my Queen and Country, the authorities and the law.
The British Army recruiting adverts on TV were a big influence in my childhood. I carried my boyhood teachings into adult life when at 16 years of age I enlisted as a boy soldier into the Army determined that I would do my duty to the very best of my ability.
The bullet that tore through my chest in Belfast one day in 1983 required major surgery involving 2 weeks on a life support machine where I suffered a cardiac arrest on day 4 of this stormy period and almost cost me my life but it did not shake my conviction that I was carrying out my duty well before my shooting, and I would carry it out again when I recovered. The bullet would not deflect me in my purpose. As it later turned out the British Army and the Establishment it defends achieved what the bullets could not --- my humiliation.
The overstretched British Army were keen to get me back into action and I was naive enough to react to their demands.
The immediate period of rapid recuperation seemed to have went well enough and after three months I was declared fit for duty and posted to Germany. Then my premature return to active service was starting to show signs of coming apart at the seams. The stitches to my torso & hole in my back had healed but the mental scars had not even been tended to and through lack of after-care I had mental anxiety/depression that made it difficult for me to cope. I managed as best I could by seeking to relax through drink which brought its own problems. I received no counseling or advice from specialists and as a result my mental anxiety/depression got worse, at which time the Army quickly discharged me without providing any follow up monitoring or treatment. It would be ten long years before I was eventually correctly diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
On civvy- street I found it impossible to work due to my mental health problems and with only a small Army pension to live on I had little to spare for luxuries such as holidays etc. Through ex-Army contacts I was advised that I had a case for a compensation claim against the Army and was put in touch with a lawyer who took on my case during 1995. This lawyer kept me updated on a one-to-one basis and served me very well but my case was then taken with hundreds of others as part of a group case which was handled by a large firm of solicitors from Manchester. I found the Manchester firm impersonal and in fact never yet got to speak to a solicitor direct. The next thing I knew is that the group claim had been unsuccessful and though my case was one of about 60 that is still live its future depended on a ruling in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). I have recently been advised that my legal aid had been stopped and I will have to conduct my own case in court if I wish to pursue it.
Since being discharged from the Army my medical care has been neglected due to the lack of specialist involvement by Local Health Authorities who have no expertise in the treatment of PTSD. My own PTSD condition has been made worse by the fact that I am addicted to the prescribed drug Seroxat. I will soon have a new G.P. and with his help I hope to be able to wean myself off this monstrous drug that is more harmful than the problem it was meant to cure.
At the beginning of 2004 I had a breakdown which left myself unable to walk or look after myself. A Doctor was called to my home whom diagnosed a Stroke and admitted myself to hospital by ambulance for further investigation and care. I was never given the opportunity to see a Neurologist to confirm this breakdown in my health. Instead I was sent home until a suitable appointment could be arranged.
My appointment has now been confirmed and will sadly not be until November 2004.
The way forward
I have to be positive and start my fight back. The Honorable Justice Owen who decided the group case said that while he recognized the suffering of PTSD of Servicemen the onus was on the servicemen to seek specialist help at the time it arose. Immediately after my shooting I was so preoccupied suffering from a heightened state of anxiety and only managed to get through each day with great difficulty. My sleep pattern was also disturbed and any peace I received came only with the help of alcohol provided at low cost by the Army.
I find the Judges findings lacking in any understanding of the plight that PTSD sufferers experience and will fight my case in court but as a first step I will draw up a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regarding the deception in recruiting advertisements practiced on practiced recruits to the Army. As Justice Owen said we knew the risks of death or injury associated with active service, though even these risks were not advertised.
(1) But did we know that after being shot and traumatized we would be expected to diagnose our own mental condition and seek specialist help?
(2) Did the recruiters tell us that we would be discharged with no specialist medical care and left to cope in civvy-street with no back up?
(3) Who advised us that after being injured we would have to fight costly legal cases to gain our lawful rights without the benefit of legal aid?
I was a willing participant in the defense of my country but did so, on the assumption that if anything went wrong I would be looked after by the Army and the Establishment I once honored and protected through going to war. I knew where to look for my enemy in Belfast but have since found that my biggest enemy is the state that I fought to protect.
The disposable soldier is fighting back. Please support my right as an ordinary British citizen to an individual Trial.
I thank you in anticipation of gaining your support.
If you wish to contact me with your own experiences in the services or wish to offer support or advice please write to: Jimmy Wells
22 Alexandra St
Kirkcaldy
Fife
KY1 1HQ
Scotland, UK
Telephone/Fax: 07092 375 475
Mobile: 00 44 (0)7796 910 807
E-mail: [email protected]
Registered in the High Court London on the 5 February 1996 and still Live to date.
My name is Jimmy Wells I am a 41 year old ex-soldier who has been discarded by the British Army because I was unfit to serve after being physically shot up in Northern Ireland and mentally shot up ever since by the Country I served.
Background
I was brought up in the shadow of Ben Nevis in the Highland Region of Scotland by a mother and father who taught me honesty and hard work were the only way to happiness in life. The other key factors in my upbringing were that I was taught to respect my Queen and Country, the authorities and the law.
The British Army recruiting adverts on TV were a big influence in my childhood. I carried my boyhood teachings into adult life when at 16 years of age I enlisted as a boy soldier into the Army determined that I would do my duty to the very best of my ability.
The bullet that tore through my chest in Belfast one day in 1983 required major surgery involving 2 weeks on a life support machine where I suffered a cardiac arrest on day 4 of this stormy period and almost cost me my life but it did not shake my conviction that I was carrying out my duty well before my shooting, and I would carry it out again when I recovered. The bullet would not deflect me in my purpose. As it later turned out the British Army and the Establishment it defends achieved what the bullets could not --- my humiliation.
The overstretched British Army were keen to get me back into action and I was naive enough to react to their demands.
The immediate period of rapid recuperation seemed to have went well enough and after three months I was declared fit for duty and posted to Germany. Then my premature return to active service was starting to show signs of coming apart at the seams. The stitches to my torso & hole in my back had healed but the mental scars had not even been tended to and through lack of after-care I had mental anxiety/depression that made it difficult for me to cope. I managed as best I could by seeking to relax through drink which brought its own problems. I received no counseling or advice from specialists and as a result my mental anxiety/depression got worse, at which time the Army quickly discharged me without providing any follow up monitoring or treatment. It would be ten long years before I was eventually correctly diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
On civvy- street I found it impossible to work due to my mental health problems and with only a small Army pension to live on I had little to spare for luxuries such as holidays etc. Through ex-Army contacts I was advised that I had a case for a compensation claim against the Army and was put in touch with a lawyer who took on my case during 1995. This lawyer kept me updated on a one-to-one basis and served me very well but my case was then taken with hundreds of others as part of a group case which was handled by a large firm of solicitors from Manchester. I found the Manchester firm impersonal and in fact never yet got to speak to a solicitor direct. The next thing I knew is that the group claim had been unsuccessful and though my case was one of about 60 that is still live its future depended on a ruling in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). I have recently been advised that my legal aid had been stopped and I will have to conduct my own case in court if I wish to pursue it.
Since being discharged from the Army my medical care has been neglected due to the lack of specialist involvement by Local Health Authorities who have no expertise in the treatment of PTSD. My own PTSD condition has been made worse by the fact that I am addicted to the prescribed drug Seroxat. I will soon have a new G.P. and with his help I hope to be able to wean myself off this monstrous drug that is more harmful than the problem it was meant to cure.
At the beginning of 2004 I had a breakdown which left myself unable to walk or look after myself. A Doctor was called to my home whom diagnosed a Stroke and admitted myself to hospital by ambulance for further investigation and care. I was never given the opportunity to see a Neurologist to confirm this breakdown in my health. Instead I was sent home until a suitable appointment could be arranged.
My appointment has now been confirmed and will sadly not be until November 2004.
The way forward
I have to be positive and start my fight back. The Honorable Justice Owen who decided the group case said that while he recognized the suffering of PTSD of Servicemen the onus was on the servicemen to seek specialist help at the time it arose. Immediately after my shooting I was so preoccupied suffering from a heightened state of anxiety and only managed to get through each day with great difficulty. My sleep pattern was also disturbed and any peace I received came only with the help of alcohol provided at low cost by the Army.
I find the Judges findings lacking in any understanding of the plight that PTSD sufferers experience and will fight my case in court but as a first step I will draw up a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regarding the deception in recruiting advertisements practiced on practiced recruits to the Army. As Justice Owen said we knew the risks of death or injury associated with active service, though even these risks were not advertised.
(1) But did we know that after being shot and traumatized we would be expected to diagnose our own mental condition and seek specialist help?
(2) Did the recruiters tell us that we would be discharged with no specialist medical care and left to cope in civvy-street with no back up?
(3) Who advised us that after being injured we would have to fight costly legal cases to gain our lawful rights without the benefit of legal aid?
I was a willing participant in the defense of my country but did so, on the assumption that if anything went wrong I would be looked after by the Army and the Establishment I once honored and protected through going to war. I knew where to look for my enemy in Belfast but have since found that my biggest enemy is the state that I fought to protect.
The disposable soldier is fighting back. Please support my right as an ordinary British citizen to an individual Trial.
I thank you in anticipation of gaining your support.
If you wish to contact me with your own experiences in the services or wish to offer support or advice please write to: Jimmy Wells
22 Alexandra St
Kirkcaldy
Fife
KY1 1HQ
Scotland, UK
Telephone/Fax: 07092 375 475
Mobile: 00 44 (0)7796 910 807
E-mail: [email protected]
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