War hero attacks care of soldiers
Updated on 28 February 2009
The British Army's most decorated soldier condemns the government for not helping mentally ill ex-servicemen and women.
The debate over the care we give to soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq is reopened tonight, after a dramatic intervention from Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the highest honour for bravery in the British Army: the Victoria Cross.
Lance Corporal Beharry described his own continuing pain and mental anguish in the hope he could secure better care for his comrades.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross for putting his life on the line to lead his comrades to safety in Iraq and he has now come to the aid of his colleagues again.
He said the army provided "first-class" treatment, but said he was speaking out because he was angry and frustrated with the way the NHS had dealt with his own trauma.
Professor Simon Wessely of the King's Centre for Military Health Research speaks to Alex Thomson.
