Michael Mantey, a former Ghanaian British Army soldier who attempted to collect £1.6 million by claiming he was left seriously disabled and hypersensitive to cold while on duty in Estonia, was slammed with a £70,000 court fee after being seen walking without a stick and wearing sandals.
After sustaining a foot injury while on service in Estonia, the former soldier sued the UK Ministry of Defense for a whopping £1.6 million.
According to The Daily Mail, Mantey, who served in the British Army in 2009, claimed that the injury caused him to lose initial mobility and that he had to layer up with numerous outwear to visit his doctor.
He eventually abandoned the complaint after being discreetly caught strolling down the street without a stick and wearing an open-toe shoe by Ministry of Defense investigators.
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According to investigators, the soldier had trench foot but had healed and lied about the circumstance in order to receive compensation from the government.
He is now facing a falsehood lawsuit from his previous employers and has spent £70,000 on legal fees.
A British High Court presided over by Judge Mr Justice Eyre ruled that his assertion was “fundamentally dishonest.”
“The MoD says that there was deliberate malingering whereas Mr Mantey says that his presentation at the examination was genuine, with the greater activity shown in the surveillance footage being atypical,” he said in his judgment.
‘He chose to report symptoms which he knew were false and from which he was not suffering. He did so in the context of a substantial damages claim,’ he said.
‘The only possible explanation is that he did so deliberately and to enhance the value of the claim. Such conduct was dishonest.
‘I find on the balance of probabilities that Mr Mantey suffered a minor NCFI, from which he had fully recovered at some point before September 2021.
‘He dishonestly portrayed himself as having suffered a more serious injury which had a continuing and disabling effect, doing so for financial gain.
‘That dishonesty tainted the whole of the claim. It went to the heart of the claim; it substantially affected the presentation of the case as a whole; and led to a significant inflation in the claim’s value.
‘Putting it shortly, there was dishonesty as to a central feature of the case, namely the extent and continuing effect of Mr Mantey’s injuries.’
Nevertheless, Mr Mantey, 39, stated in his witness testimony in court that he had experienced mobility injury but had reacted effectively to therapy, resulting in an improvement in his movement.
‘If only someone could see what I go through every day, then this story could be re-written,’ he said.
‘This is just one day of footage. I have been told my injuries would stay with me forever.
‘Pain comes when you’re not prepared for it. It comes when it wants to come..’
SOURCE: 3NEWS
