High Heels
Running in high heels may cost RAF £200,000. .By Michael Evans, Defence Editor. . . . . . . .A WOMAN RAF officer won a six-year legal battle with the Ministry of Defence yesterday after suffering a serious ankle injury when ordered to run in high heels while carrying a heavy kitbag. . .The career of Flight Lieutenant Deborah Burns, 28, was ruined on only the second day of her initial training course at RAF Cranwell in August 1996. . .. .Required to dress smartly in civilian clothes for the “swearing of allegiance” parade, she was wearing high-heeled court shoes when she was told to pick up 80lb of kit and carry it to her accommodation block. As she struggled with the bag across the parade ground, she was ordered to run because she and the other cadets were behind schedule. . .. .In her civil case against the MoD at Preston Crown Court, she said that she went over on her high heels and fell heavily, rupturing her Achilles tendon. She remained in the RAF, but has been deskbound because of her injuries and is due to leave the service in August, having been refused a permanent commission. . .. .The amount of compensation has yet to be evaluated, but Flight Lieutenant Burns could be awarded £100,000 to £200,000 because her official reports assessed that she had the prospects of rising to the rank of Wing Commander. . .. .A spokesman for the MoD said that it was disappointed with the result. But Paul Burns, the officer’s father, said that the RAF had “just disposed of” his daughter. “As the judge said in the case, people are no longer expendable.” . .. .Flight Lieutenant Burns, who now works in supplies administration at RAF Strike Command in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: “I am absolutely delighted with the outcome. My ankle is still in a terrible state.” . .. .In court RAF lawyers rejected her claim that she had been ordered to run and said that her injury was not as serious as she made out. The Recorder Graham Wood said that Flight Lieutenant Burns was an “honest witness” and concluded that she had been told to “make haste” while wearing inappropriate footwear. . .. .Mr Burns said that his daughter had won back her integrity and intended to do a law degree at university. “Because of some ridiculous order to run in high heels with full kit she has lost years of her life. Now they have been found completely liable for her injury, and we are happy that justice has been done. It is regrettable that we could not find that sense of justice within the RAF’s official board of inquiry and that we were driven to seek it elsewhere.” . .. .A spokesman for the RAF said: “Changes have been introduced in recent years to improve the quality and consistency of the training, with added emphasis on health and safety areas.”