Ministry of Defence blocks nuclear veterans' court cases

Nine veterans exposed to radiation during atomic tests more than 50 years ago were today denied the right to sue the Government.

The Ministry of Defence won the majority of its appeal against a court ruling which would have allowed the former soldiers to claim damages of up to £100 million.

The MoD was contesting a High Court ruling in June last year that 10 test cases out of 1,011 claims could proceed to full trial.

The servicemen blame their ill-health on involvement in Britain's nuclear tests on the Australian mainland, Monte Bello islands and Christmas Island in the Fifties.

Today the judges said that they had declined to exercise their discretion in the veterans' favour because they had no evidence by which they could hope to prove that their illnesses had probably been caused by radiation.