MoD accused of betraying soldier

Billy Dyer visited his brother Jim in a Warsaw intensive care unit

Relatives of a soldier who suffered head injuries in an accident while on leave abroad has accused the military of "washing their hands" of him.

L/Cpl Jim Dyer, 37, was left in a coma for 10 days after being hit by a car in Warsaw earlier this month.

He had no travel insurance, and his family said they cannot afford to pay £30,000 to return him to the UK.

The MoD said they are unable to help repatriate L/Cpl Dyer because he was off duty at the time.

Career soldier L/Cpl Dyer, who serves with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers and is based at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, has seen action in Kosovo and Iraq since joining the Army 20 years ago.

[The Army is] always banging on about Our Boys but they basically washed their hands of Jim when he needed their help Billy Dyer

He had meet up with comrades for a weekend break in Warsaw ahead of a second tour of Iraq next month when he was hit by a car while returning to his hotel on 2 August.

He is was left in intensive care with a blood clot on his brain, a fractured skull and broken jaw and leg. Polish doctors initially feared he would not survive.

L/Cpl Dyer's brother Billy Dyer, from Aberlour in Moray, told the BBC Scotland News website his brother had been betrayed by the Army, who had left the soldier languishing in a foreign hospital.

He added: "Jim is very lucky to be alive and is getting a little bit better each day but he has serious head injuries, which is obviously a concern.

"He didn't have insurance because he has served in Iraq and Kosova and basically thought if he survived that he wouldn't have any problem in Warsaw.

"We didn't think it was too much to expect for the Army to help bring him home. They are always banging on about Our Boys but they basically washed their hands of Jim when he needed their help, and they have just left him over there."

'Service charities'

Moray MP Angus Robertson said he has raised L/Cpl Dyer's plight with the secretary of state for defence.

Mr Robertson added: "His injuries are horrific and he is in a foreign country. It is true to say he was not on active service with the Army and it is not the Army's responsibility to repatriate everybody who finds themselves in difficult circumstances when they are not on duty.

"But having said all that, this Lance Corporal is a war hero, his family are looking at a bill of around £30,000 to have him repatriated, and I think the Ministry of Defence could and look at any opportunities that they have to bring him home."

An Army spokesman said: "Unfortunately, because this soldier was on personal leave, we are unable to offer help.

"When he is back he will get the same care as anyone would while off sick.

"He could apply for help from one of the service charities. Whenever anyone goes on leave they are told to take out travel insurance."