Must be a lot of hearing loss out there from jet noise - and hours monitoring HF radio......
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5...rine-d8jzm8mk5
£550,000 for deafened Marine
A former Royal Marine commando has been awarded £550,000 in damages after suffering noise-induced chronic hearing loss while on operations.
Alistair Inglis, 39, left the armed forces in 2012 after 14 years because of his disability, which was sustained in training and combat. The veteran, who now works in maritime security, served in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, where he was a section commander in Helmand province and repeatedly came under fire. Lawyers for Mr Inglis claimed that the Ministry of Defence had failed to provided sufficient protective equipment.
After a deputy High Court judge awarded him damages yesterday, they said they had received instruction from 2,200 other serving and former personnel who claim to have had hearing problems.
The MoD admitted that Mr Inglis’s hearing loss and tinnitus had arisen “as a result of his negligent exposure to noise whilst serving in the Royal Marines” and said that liability should be split “80:20 in the claimant’s favour”. Disputing the amount of damages to which he was entitled, however, the MoD argued that Mr Inglis, from Plymouth, had left voluntarily while still “fit for all duties”. The High Court had heard in March that Mr Inglis had a hearing deficit equivalent to a man in his seventies.
Judge Peter Marquand found that the claimant had “left the Royal Marines because of his hearing loss”. He ruled that the government must pay him damages including £200,000 to cover future loss of earnings and just over £280,000 for future loss of pension. He said that an application by the MoD for permission to appeal against his ruling had been refused.......