Ex-RAF helicopter pilot, 30, sues the MoD for more than £200,000 after claiming heavy 3st-body armour he wore when flying Chinooks ruined his sex life
- Louis Warburton from Hook, Hampshire, is suing the MoD for over £200,000
- The 30-year-old said poorly adjusted and heavy body armour left him injured
- It is claimed nerve damage was caused by the armour pressing on his thighs
- Mr Warburton says he is in pain and suffering sleep and sexual disturbances
- The MoD is accused of not carrying out proper risk assessments in his case
- The former RAF pilot was serving in peacekeeping missions in Mali in 2019
A former RAF helicopter pilot who says the body armour he had to wear while serving on missions has caused nerve damage and impotence is suing the Ministry of Defence for more than £200,000.
Louis Warburton, 30, served in peacekeeping missions in Mali, where he flew Chinook helicopters in service of the the UN-backed Operation Newcombe.
He was made to wear heavy body armour, weighing 3st 2lb (20kg), which he claims squeezed his thighs, causing injury to his sciatic and femoral nerves, leaving him with severe pain and numbness, reports The Telegraph.
Mr Warburton, from Hook, Hampshire, was discharged for medical reasons from the RAF in 2019, and he says the symptoms he has developed have cast a long shadow over his personal life.
The former RAF helicopter pilot’s legal team at Irwin Mitchells submitted documents alleging he was suffering from sleep and sexual disturbances as a result of the body armour he donned during the peacekeeping missions.
Louis Warburton, 30, from Hook, Hampshire, is suing the MoD after ten years of service, claiming body armour he had to wear while flying Chinook helicopters in Mali resulted in nerve damage – leading to numbness, pain and sexual dysfunction
The documents read: ‘[His] continuing symptoms curtailed his ability to undertake his normal RAF duties, and he has, and remains, restricted in his domestic activities.
‘He has difficulty sleeping due to ongoing pain and his activities of daily living, including his personal life with his partner, have been adversely affected.’
Mr Warburton alleges that the personal protective equipment was so poorly adjusted that it even hindered him in the execution of his helicopter pilot duties, because it obstructed his vision of the instrument panel.
He claims negligence at the MoD led to his being left without suitable and reasonably safe armour, and he is suing for over £200,000.
The MoD is also accused of not carrying out risk assessments in Mr Warburton’s case and failing to act on his complaints.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Operation Newcombe, began in January 2013 and is ongoing (pictured: British troops serving in Mali)
Mr Warburton served in the RAF for almost a decade, joining in 2010 and being medically discharged in late 2019.
He was deployed to Mali in support of the UN peacekeeping mission in January 2019 and, in less than a month, he developed symptoms which he reported to the MoD, leading to his being medically downgraded in July 2019 and subsequently discharged altogether.
A spokesperson for the MoD said: ‘The health and safety is our foremost priority on both training and operations. It would be inappropriate to comment further as this is an ongoing case.’
Whitehall insiders said where there is ‘a proven legal liability compensation is paid’.
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