Police want compensation for Troubles trauma

MORE than 5,000 police officers who claim they suffered trauma during 30 years of trouble in the North yesterday began a High Court action that could result in a €150 million pay-out.

A court was told that officers who were mentally broken need acknowledgement and compensation as much as those who were shot or blown up.

Officers, both serving and retired, have accused the Chief Constable of negligence for failing to tackle injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

Stephen Irwin QC said the men and women of the RUC were ordinary, decent people who had been put into the role of heroes.

"Some of them found it too much and became broken," he said.

"Those who were injured in their minds were injured just as much as those who were shot or maimed in explosions. A number have killed themselves because of the pressure on their lives.

"They got hurt, we knew they would, they knew they would. They were volunteers for a highly dangerous job. They got hurt and hurt more than they should have done, that is what this case is about they seek acknowledgement and compensation, acknowledgement of what happened and help for those who need it," Mr Irwin said.

The QC said more than 5,000 serving and former members of the RUC and the Police Service of Northern Ireland were taking the action, he said.

More than 2,000 of them were still serving, ranging in rank from Constable to Chief Superintendent.

Police officers in Northern Ireland had faced incessant risk and hatred they had been as much at risk washing their car or coming out of church as when facing a hostile crowd.

The action is not against the traumatic incidents they faced the officers accepted the risks of service and knew the situations they would meet. But they allege authorities failed to deal properly with predictable psychiatric and psychological consequences.

The claim covers the period from when Northern Ireland was plunged into civil unrest at the beginning of the 1970s but focuses mainly on the latter part of the decade.

The claim alleges RUC chiefs knew by the mid-1970s the potential dangers facing officers exposed to severe trauma on a daily basis.

An Occupational Health Unit was set up in 1986 but the action alleges a package of measures came too slowly and not all were implemented.

During the hearing, which is expected to last for at least four months, 12 individual cases will be set out to illustrate the basic argument.

The case continues.