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A former British soldier who attempted to fraudulently claim £1.6m from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by asserting that he was severely disabled and hypersensitive to the cold has been ordered by the High Court to pay legal fees exceeding £70,000.
Michael Mantey, 39, who was born in Ghana had served in the Royal Engineers and filed a lawsuit against the MoD, claiming he had been left unable to walk without assistance due to trench foot he suffered while on duty in Estonia in 2017.
However, the MoD discovered footage of Mantey walking without assistance and wearing sandals, causing him to drop his case.
The MoD argued that while Mantey had indeed sustained a cold injury, it had healed and he had been “deliberately malingering” in an attempt to receive a substantial payout.
Judge Mr Justice Eyre agreed, stating that Mantey’s claim had been “fundamentally dishonest”.
