Hero soldier Luke Cole gets six-figure payout

Hero Black Country soldier Luke Cole was today awarded a six-figure compensation payout - less than two weeks after it was revealed he was to get a military pension of £16-a-week.

The 25-year-old ex- Territorial Army private is getting a substantial lump sum and a further payment understood to total several hundred pounds a month tax- free for the rest of his life.

It comes more than two years after the claim was made and less than a fortnight after the Express & Star revealed he was given a pension of just £851 a year.

He was given a medical discharge this year because of wounds suffered winning the Military Cross for outstanding bravery in a Taliban ambush in 2007.

His pension was roundly condemned and was brought up in the House of Commons by Wolverhampton South West MP Paul Uppal.

Today the Ministry of Defence confirmed a compensation payout was made. It was revealed to Mr Cole in a hand-delivered letter at his home in Bradmore, Wolverhampton, and came days after Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey promised to review Mr Cole's situation.

Mr Cole said: "It has been a long wait and a happy coincidence that the matter has been settled so soon after private information about my pension was released by my friends.

"I am not upset by the paltry pension award any more because the compensation balances things out. I do not regard it as a victory and never saw this as a battle. I just wanted the matter to be settled quickly."

An MoD spokesman said personnel were equally compensated for injuries on operations. Those most seriously injured were awarded a tax-free guaranteed income payment every month for life in addition to a lump sum.