Horse breeder loses MoD jet claim

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A woman who claimed her grandson and her horses were upset by low flying military jets has lost a damages action against the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Alyson King, of Carsphairn, in Dumfries and Galloway, had claimed a total of £100,000 in compensation.

She also sought a declaration that planes flying less than 250ft above her home breached her human rights.

However, Judge Lord Pentland ruled that there was "substantially less" low flying in the area than was claimed.

He said he was not persuaded there was a "significant amount" of operational low flying (OLF) above her home.

"She sincerely believes this to be the case, but the facts as established in the evidence do not bear this out," he said.

Ms King raised an action against the Advocate General for Scotland, representing the MoD, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

She maintained that low level flights had caused distress to her family and animals at a sanctuary which she runs.

The conclusion which, to my mind, must be drawn from the evidence as a whole is that the amount of OLF over the subjects, if indeed there is any, is substantially less than she claimed Lord Pentland

She said in the action that one horse was so badly affected by repeated scares that his black coat turned white in patches.

Ms King also told the court of one incident in which her two-year-old grandson was in his playpen when he was terrified by a very low jet.

Her home lies within one of three parts of Britain designated as tactical training areas.

It entitles RAF aircraft to carry out OLF, with fast jets flying at 100ft, at heights likely to be experienced in combat operations.

Ms King said she had logged incidents of planes flying at 150ft or less on a series of calendars which she kept.

However, Lord Pentland said he was unable to accept that evidence as reliable.

He said: "The analysis consisted of a comparison between the calendar entries and the OLF logs maintained by the RAF.

"It showed conclusively that on many of the dates identified on the calendars as incidents of flying below 150ft, there had in fact been no OLF authorised or flown by the RAF.

"The conclusion which, to my mind, must be drawn from the evidence as a whole is that the amount of OLF over the subjects, if indeed there is any, is substantially less than she claimed."