Dismissed guardsman sues for army pension

A former guardsman is taking legal action against the Government at the European Court of Human Rights in a test case over claims that he has been unfairly deprived of his army pension for 20 years.

A former guardsman is taking legal action against the Government at the European Court of Human Rights in a test case over claims that he has been unfairly deprived of his army pension for 20 years.

John Orford is challenging the Ministry of Defence's position that a services pension, a crown prerogative, is outside the remit of European laws. The British Legion says it is following the case carefully, and if successful, dozens of similar claims will follow.

Mr Orford, 42, joined the Grenadier Guards in 1974 and served in Hong Kong. He was dismissed in 1979 because he could not keep his neck still on parade.

Army medical officers said his condition was caused by a "phobia" of army life and that he was temperamentally unsuited to be a guardsman. This dismissal entitled the Army to refuse him a Ministry of Defence pension.

Medical specialists supporting Mr Orford say he suffers from a neurological condition called spasmodic torticollis, caused when he had a gymnasium accident in 1977. Mr Orford maintains that his GP's diagnosis of this condition was made known to the Army before he was dismissed but they ignored it.

Mr Orford has gathered evidence from leading neurologists, specialists in spasmodic torticollis, and a variation of it known as distonia, as well as references from former guardsmen, non-commissioned officers and officers who say he was an exemplary soldier.

However, an army medical board set up three years ago concluded that Mr Orford's dismissal would not have constituted grounds for a medical discharge.

Mr Orford, who receives a DSS pension of £100 a week, wants to have his army pension backdated for 20 years.

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