A MAN who had been based on Anglesey shortly before claiming he got tinnitus and Covid-19 as a result of his service in the Armed Forces has had his appeal against a judgment dismissed.
Wilfred Rabone, who served in the Royal Navy from May 1990 until May 2022, had unsuccessfully claimed that his having COVID and tinnitus was caused by service.
The claim against the Secretary of State for Defence was refused on 11 October, 2023 and, upon reconsideration, on 4 September, 2024.
Mr Rabone has now lost an appeal against the outcome, after having been given the opportunity to have an oral hearing of the substantive appeal, an option "he did not take up".
In January 2021, during the COVID pandemic, Mr Rabone was mobilised in support of the Welsh Ambulance Service and was based on Anglesey when undertaking this duty.
On 23 March 2022, he was demobilised; on 26 March 2022, he tested positive for COVID; and on 28 March 2022, he developed ringing in his ears and was later diagnosed as having tinnitus.
The claim for COVID and tinnitus was made on this basis.
Shortly before being demobilised, he had tripped and torn a muscle which meant that he was stood down from duties.
He remained at his hotel, where he had been staying whilst in Anglesey.
He was taken to Cardiff to be demobilised, which occurred in a compact basement room where social distancing was not observed, people were sitting next to one another and no one wore a face mask. Approximately 60 people were present.
On 26 March 2023, he woke with a sore throat and tested positive for Covid.
A few days later, he developed tinnitus from which he had not suffered before he had contracted Covid. His claim was that the COVID and tinnitus were caused by service.
A tribunal found that "evidence did not confirm a service cause for the Covid", and in any event, "even if it did, then the illness was short-lived and below tariff".
Judge of the Upper Tribunal, Rt Hon Sir Gary Hickinbottom, said of the decision: "This is an appeal from the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber) (Judge Freshwater, Medical Member Dr B Arvin and Service Member C Smith, dated 21 November 2024 with written reasons issued on 21 January 2025, dismissing the Appellant’s appeal against the decision of the Respondent Secretary of State to reject his claim for compensation under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011 for Coronovirus and consequential tinnitus on the basis that these conditions were not caused by service.
"The President of the War Pensions and Armed Forces Chamber having refused permission to appeal on 5 March 2025, permission was granted by the Upper Tribunal (Judge Mitchell) following an oral hearing on 12 August 2025.
"The Appellant was given the opportunity to have an oral hearing of the substantive appeal, but he did not take it up; so, I have determined this appeal without an oral hearing, which I consider I am justly and fairly able to do.
"An outbreak of an exogenous infection means the occurrence of cases of such infection in excess of what would normally be expected in a particular community, geographical area or season.
"Mr Rabone acquired Covid when in the United Kingdom, which is a temperate region, at a time when the occurrence of Covid in the general population was high. The occurrence in his workplace was not in excess of what would normally be expected.
"Tinnitus is a symptom of long Covid (as set out on the NHS website). The cause of tinnitus is therefore Covid, not service.
"The appeal is therefore dismissed.”
