Our client, Stephen Hambridge, was awarded £550,000 due to the injuries he sustained whilst serving in the Armed Forces ahead of trial in October 2025.
Mr Hambridge, 46 from Powys, served in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers from 1999 to 2008 and then in the Royal Corps of Engineers from 2008 to 2012. He served two combat-intensive tours of Afghanistan, as well as tours of Kosovo and Northern Ireland.
[Photo of Stephen Hambridge in the Armed Forces]
Mr Hambridge was diagnosed with noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus while serving in 2012, leading to a permanent medical downgrade and resulting in his departure from service.
Quoted in the Sunday Mirror, Mr Hambridge said:
“On two tours of Afghanistan, I was given one pair of foam earplugs, but they soon got dropped in the dirt, and you can’t use them with the radios. It was only after I spent 107 days next to rows of mortars dealing with six hostile contacts a day that I got silicone in-ear defenders with radio transmitters inside them. But by that point it was too late.”
Now profoundly deaf in one ear and with loss of hearing in the other, Mr Hambridge needs to pay thousands of pounds for his hearing aids in order for him to lead a normal life.
During his 11-year service in the 2nd Battalion, he experienced surface-to-air-missiles and rocket-propelled grenades where he described the ear defenders were “useless” in protecting his hearing.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “When I came home, I got a medical check to go out on my third tour, and they said my hearing had failed. They medically downgraded me and I left. I loved the army and never wanted to leave. The mentality is you just get on with it, but you expect them to look after you in return.”
Simon Ellis, Partner and Head of our Military team, is acting for 12,000 veterans who have suffered with noise induced hearing loss in the current High Court case. The settled claims are all far in excess of average lump sums awarded under a Ministry of Defence Armed Forces Compensation Scheme for noise induced hearing loss.
We are urging current and former Armed Forces personnel who have suffered from hearing loss to register their compensation claim by the deadline 30 January 2026 as we see a rise in people coming forward due to the Matrix Agreement with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The Matrix Agreement means all current and former members of the armed forces, who are represented by Hugh James, and have been affected by hearing loss as a result of their time in the military, can bring claims as long as their service included time following the passing of the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987, which suspended Crown immunity for service personnel.
Nikolai Llewellyn, Senior Associate in our military team acted for Stephen and said:
“I’m pleased that the Ministry of Defence accepted Stephen’s Part 36 offer of £550,000 shortly before the Royal Courts of Justice trial was due to commence in October 2025. His claim was one of the test cases in the Hugh James Military Deafness litigation. It has been a pleasure to act as his solicitor. As someone with a deep interest in military history, I grew up admiring the defenders of Rorke’s Drift, and Stephen’s account of ANP Hill/‘Dragon’s Lair’ – surrounded and severely outnumbered under sustained attack -resonated with me. Representing a war hero like Stephen is an honour, and helping, even in a small way, is something I’m grateful for. My thanks go to him, and to all who have served and continue to serve.”
