Commando's widow told to pay back salary

The widow of a British commando killed in the first hours of the war on Iraq accused military chiefs of insensitivity yesterday for asking her to pay back her husband's salary.

The Ministry of Defence retracted its demands after Lianne Seymour revealed that she had been asked to reimburse money paid to her husband, Ian, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

Mrs Seymour said she had been told to leave the family home on a Royal Navy camp in Poole, Dorset, by the autumn because she was no longer eligible for accommodation in married quarters.

Her husband, a Navy communications expert who was about to join the Royal Marines, was among eight British troops killed when an American CH-140 Sea Knight crashed in Kuwait as the Allied land invasion began on 21 March.

Mrs Seymour, 27, who had a three-year-old son, Beck, with her husband, was asked to repay his salary from the date of his death until the end of the month. The month's salary was paid in full because of a delay in identifying his body.

"I feel like I've been robbed of everything," she said. "My husband is gone and just for the sake of 10 days' pay they're telling me to make a repayment. I'm supposed to be grieving his death but at the same time I have to worry about where I'll be living in six months' time.

"It's very hard to take because he's made the ultimate sacrifice and now my child's without a father," she said.

The widow said she had been told by officials that she must leave the couple's home within six months. The news of her plight came shortly after Mr Seymour, 28, a Royal Navy Operator Mechanic Second Class who had been in the services since leaving school, was buried last week with full military honours.

Mrs Seymour's story caused some confusion within the Government yesterday. Tony Blair told MPs that reports of her situation were "not correct" when the issue was raised by Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Party leader.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed later that Mrs Seymour had been asked to repay the salary "in error" but denied she had been given a deadline to leave her home.

A spokesman said: "It is our policy that families who lose a loved one are entitled to stay in their accommodation for as long as they need it. There was a request for reimbursement but that has been rectified. We don't want to cause any more inconvenience at this tragic time."