Post by Focus on May 22, 2013 13:36:53 GMT
* Craig Harrison was forced to quit Army home and temporarily leave
country
* Placed on sick leave after Ministry of Defence officials revealed his identity
* He has now been paid £100,000 in compensation
An Army sniper who killed two Taliban gunmen from more than a mile-and-a-half away has been paid £100,000 compensation after bungling Ministry of Defence officials revealed his identity.
Craig Harrison and his family were placed in grave danger of being kidnapped by Al Qaeda sympathisers after the ‘catastrophic’ blunder, according to police intelligence.
Craig Harrison, forced to quit Army home and temporarily leave country
He was forced to quit his Army home, temporarily leave the country and remove his teenage daughter from school before her GCSE exams. His wife also gave up her work as a hairdresser.
The stress led to the Household Cavalry veteran being placed on permanent sick leave and he is now to be medically discharged from the Army.
Cpl Harrison earned a place in military history by felling the insurgents with consecutive bullets in Afghanistan – even though they were 3,200ft beyond the official range of his rifle.
But under MoD rules snipers’ identities should remain secret because they are high value targets for terrorists.
One of Corporal Harrison’s comrades said: ‘Craig has been through an absolute nightmare. He had a very tough tour in Afghanistan and was lucky to survive relatively unscathed. He was involved in a lot of contacts and had some pretty close shaves.
‘Craig was happy to talk to the media when he returned to the UK and everyone wanted to know about his amazing kill. But he never thought for a second his ID would be released.
‘A few days after he gave the interview, the police informed him he was in danger.
‘After that happened everything fell apart. Even when he moved into another Army quarter he was always looking over his shoulder, always checking his car.’
Cpl Harrison, a father-of-one from Gloucestershire, killed 12 more rebels and wounded seven others during an extraordinary six-month tour of duty.
His record-breaking shots took place in November 2009 in Helmand. The two kills were from a distance of 8,120ft. The previous best of 7,972ft was held by a Canadian soldier.
Cpl Harrison was using the British-built L115A3 Long Range Rifle, the Army’s most powerful sniper weapon. It is only designed to be effective at up to 4,921ft – just less than a mile. He was so far away that the 8.59mm-calibre bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target.
To compensate for the spin and drift of the bullets he had to aim 6ft above and 20in to the left of his targets.
Cpl Harrison said at the time: ‘We saw two insurgents running through courtyard. They came forward carrying a machine gun and opened fire on the commander’s wagon.
Under MoD rules snipers' identities should remain secret because they are high value targets for terrorists (file picture)
‘Conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility. The first round hit a machine gunner in the stomach. He went straight down and didn’t move. The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and my second shot hit him in the side.’
With a third bullet, he then disabled the fighters’ machine gun.
His story was picked up by papers around the world and received 1.5million hits on the internet.
Prior to the interview, Cpl Harrison was given an undertaking by MoD officials that none of his personal details would be revealed.
But they failed to inform the media and his name was duly published in a spectacular public relations disaster.
A letter from the soldier’s lawyers to the MoD said Cpl Harrison and his family suffered ‘acute distress and anxiety’.
An MoD spokesman said: ‘When compensation claims are received they are considered on the basis of whether or not the MoD has a legal liability to pay compensation. Where there is a proven legal liability, compensation is paid.
‘The MoD takes personal security very seriously and any breaches are investigated thoroughly.’
If the boot had been on the other foot and Craig had given out MOD information and put an officer's life at risk he would be residing at 'the pleasure of Her Majesty' -- Why is the MOD not been brought to book over this instead of being allowed to buy their way out of it??? - Fx
