Ex-Royal Marine wins £700,000 from Ministry of Defence for Hearing Loss

A former Royal Marine was awarded over £700,000 from the Ministry of Defence as compensation for suffering hearing damage caused by training.

James Barry served from 2013 to 2017 and developed noise induced hearing loss as well as tinnitus due to inadequate training and unsuitable protection. He was discharged in 2017 due to his hearing problems.

The Ministry of Defence attempted to argue that there was “contributory negligence” on behalf of Mr Barry in that he did not use the hearing protection given to him when required however this line of defence was rejected by the Court. There were instances when the helmet did not fit properly when used with larger ear defenders or the radio was muffled when using ear plugs. The Court stated that nothing was done by the Ministry of defence to address the inadequacy or incompatibility with other equipment which the Claimant had to wear.

This is a positive outcome for ex-service personnel who have suffered from noise induced hearing loss as a result of employment with the Ministry of Defence whereby not enough was done in terms of protecting the hearing of those who served.

If you were previously employed by the Ministry of Defence and believe that your past employer was to blame for the cause of your hearing loss then please get in touch with us to see whether we can help with a claim for compensation.

To read more about this case, follow this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-64338435

The high court judgement can be found here: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/459.html