Hodge Jones & Allen

The claimant in this case was a serving soldier deployed in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. His unit was operating long-range artillery, firing shells at targets in neighbouring Iraq. The Claimant alleged that his injury had been caused by the negligence of the gun command during the live-firing of rounds. The Claimant was ordered by his commanding officer to fetch water stored at the front of the gun. As the Claimant was in front of the gun his commanding officer ordered it to fire. The force of the weapon firing threw the Claimant to the ground, causing him to suffer serious injuries in the process. 

In this case the Court of Appeal held, in striking out the claimant’s claim, that Mulcahy had been in a war zone taking part in warlike operations, and that as a soldier in these circumstances did not owe a fellow soldier a duty of care when engaging the enemy in battle conditions in the course of hostilities, the claimant did not have a cause of action against the Ministry of Defence. This was therefore a case where the Court felt that there was a sufficient link between the act of negligence and the military context within which the accident occurred (Mulcahy’s unit were actively attacking the enemy when the accident occurred).