Police officer fails in disability lump-sum compensation claim
A former police officer has been told that he does not qualify for a lump-sum payment in compensation after an incident which left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
South Wales Police dog handler Mark Pugh, 50, became severely depressed and suicidal after he was attacked by a mob of fans at the trouble-hit FA Cup tie between Cardiff City and Leeds United in 2002.
Mr Pugh has already won his claim for a disability pension, but has been denied a lump-sum compensation claim because although he has been categorised as 100% disabled, the South Wales Police Authority believe that he is not unable to work at all.
“Applications for these payments are very rare because only officers who have suffered 100% disability which is permanent are entitled to them,” explained a spokesperson for the authority.
Nigel Daniel, Mr Pugh’s solicitor, said his client has been treated “appallingly” and believes that the authority has made an “incorrect decision.”
Mr Pugh was in the news recently when it was revealed that South Wales Police spent over £100,000 on Operation Thames, a surveillance operation where almost a dozen officers from South Wales Police and the neighbouring Dyfed-Powys force were used to spy on him for months. This was an attempt by the authority to see if he was faking his disability and therefore deny him of his disability pension.