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http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1034&id=1002832006
Cadet sues MoD for £20,000 after training accident left her scarred
AN ARMY cadet is suing the Ministry of Defence for £20,000 after a training exercise accident left her scarred for life.
Claire Huntington claims military chiefs were to blame when a rock broke free during a climbing exercise and struck her on the face. She said she instinctively looked up when a warning was shouted from above and was struck by a rock which had fallen 30ft.
Miss Huntington, from Shetland, said her superiors should have checked the rockface for loose stones and should have moved waiting cadets away from the foot of the climb.
The 21-year-old has lodged a claim for £20,000 damages against the Advocate General, representing the Ministry of Defence, at Perth Sheriff Court. She claims she was participating in a "climbing, abseiling, adventure training exercise" on 6 April, 2003 when the accident happened.
Miss Huntington and a group of other cadets attended the course at a rockface near Blair Atholl in Perthshire as part of her duties as a cadet with the Lerwick-based Shetland Independent Cadet Battery of the Royal Artillery Army Cadet Force.
After the accident she was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and needed stitches to a 6cm cut across her cheek.
Miss Huntington claims she has been scarred for life and left with a "permanent facial deformity as a result of the accident".
The Ministry of Defence is defending the action and states that Miss Huntington was at least partly to blame for her own misfortune.
"She had a duty to stand clear of any area where she might be struck by falling rocks," their response states.
The case is expected to be heard later this year.
Cadet sues MoD for £20,000 after training accident left her scarred
AN ARMY cadet is suing the Ministry of Defence for £20,000 after a training exercise accident left her scarred for life.
Claire Huntington claims military chiefs were to blame when a rock broke free during a climbing exercise and struck her on the face. She said she instinctively looked up when a warning was shouted from above and was struck by a rock which had fallen 30ft.
Miss Huntington, from Shetland, said her superiors should have checked the rockface for loose stones and should have moved waiting cadets away from the foot of the climb.
The 21-year-old has lodged a claim for £20,000 damages against the Advocate General, representing the Ministry of Defence, at Perth Sheriff Court. She claims she was participating in a "climbing, abseiling, adventure training exercise" on 6 April, 2003 when the accident happened.
Miss Huntington and a group of other cadets attended the course at a rockface near Blair Atholl in Perthshire as part of her duties as a cadet with the Lerwick-based Shetland Independent Cadet Battery of the Royal Artillery Army Cadet Force.
After the accident she was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and needed stitches to a 6cm cut across her cheek.
Miss Huntington claims she has been scarred for life and left with a "permanent facial deformity as a result of the accident".
The Ministry of Defence is defending the action and states that Miss Huntington was at least partly to blame for her own misfortune.
"She had a duty to stand clear of any area where she might be struck by falling rocks," their response states.
The case is expected to be heard later this year.