Para-athlete faces £200,000 bill over 'dishonest' claim

Injured ex-soldier filmed leading horse

- By Nev Ayling

Compensation bid... O'Connell

A PARA-athlete and ex-soldier who sued the Ministry of Defence for millions after a fall from an army horse is facing a £200,000plus court bill after a judge threw out her compensation claim.

Debbie O'Connell, 37, was in the Royal Horse Artillery's ceremonial unit, the King's Troop, when she toppled from her mount in 2015.

Her collarbone was broken and she claimed her left arm was rendered almost useless by the fall.

She left the Army due to her injury two years later and began a successful para-athletics career, winning gold medals for cycling at the 2018 Invictus Games, and sprinting at world-level contests.

In September 2018 she launched a £2.4million claim against the Ministry of Defence - later scaled down to £1.74million - claiming that her fall had been caused by riding boots two sizes too big and being allotted a horse with a tendency to buck.