Insurer says marine shot in brain by Taliban suffered only 'flesh wound'

A British Royal Marine who suffered brain damage when he was shot in the head by a Taliban bullet has been told by insurers that he only suffered a "flesh wound". Liam Brentley, 25, had parts of his skull, jaw and brain tissue removed, and was left suffering deafness and memory loss.

The father-of-two survived only because his goggles deflected the sniper round, which hit him while on patrol in Afghanistan in June. But Mr Brentley and his family have been left outraged after he received a letter giving an initial insurance payout of just £1,500 ($2,400) - with his injury described as a "flesh wound."



Brentley's father Gary, 50, said, "I'm stunned and insulted. A flesh wound is surely a graze from a bullet - my son had half of his head blown off." Mr Brentley, who is still recovering from the incident, has applied to the UK Ministry of Defence for compensation.

Insurance firm Chartis said that if Mr Bentley still has permanent injury after a period of recovery, normally a year, he will receive more cash. A spokesman said "flesh wounds" covered all injuries inflicted by bullets. He added: "If the wording has caused stress then we apologise. But this is just the start of the assessment procedure."