A former solider awarded £819,000 after losing both legs in an IRA bomb blast nine years ago said today he had been badly let down by Army solicitors.

Andy Mudd, 42,who was a bodyguard with the Royal Military Police and now lives at Cawood, near Selby, said the Army legal services had advised him in 1992 to take the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board's offer of £115,000.

The former warrant officer and his wife, Maggie, 38, were outraged by the amount and decided to engage their own private solicitors to fight their case.

They ended up with more than SEVEN times the amount originally on offer.

Knaresborough-born Mr Mudd, who moved to Cawood four years ago, has a son Jack, six, and daughter, Katy, two.

He said: "The Army legal services didn't do us any favours - they just couldn't quantify the damages and it was a bad offer.

"It was a desperate fight and nine years is far too long. If I had been injured in Northern Ireland, it would have been different. The compensation would have been sorted out within two years.

"I don't want anything to do with the Army any more."

Mr Mudd was a staff sergeant when an IRA bomb, planted underneath the wheel arch of his VW Golf parked outside his barracks home in Colchester, exploded in November 1989.

He lost both his legs and his wife, who suffered facial scars, was awarded £14,000. They were about to set off on a Christmas shopping trip.

Today's award of £819,000 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board was £500,000 less than Mr Mudd asked for, but he told the Evening Press he was happy with the amount.

He said: "I would rather have my legs than the money, but I'm not looking back. I have a wonderful wife and two smashing kids, and I'm looking to the future."

Mr Mudd, who joined the Army in 1974, received the British Empire Medal for gallantry in the Queen's New Year's Honours List in 1990 for service in Beirut.

He was also credited with helping to save the life of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams when he was attacked by Loyalist gunmen in Belfast.

Mrs Mudd said today: "We feel badly let down by the Army legal services. The awful thing was having to fight all the way for a fair deal, and justify it.

"Andy was a very fit man and this incident has changed our lives irrevocably. He isn't working and his prospects of work are pretty remote."

An Army press office spokesman said: "We're pleased Mr and Mrs Mudd have achieved this settlement."

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