Shropshire veterans' charity staff working from home after 'threats and abuse'

Sue Freeth, chief executive of Combat Stress based at Audley Court, Newport, said that veterans due to attend the centre for treatment had also asked for their appointments to be relocated.

It comes as the charity has been the focus of an ongoing protest by Builth Wells veteran Gus Hales over the handling of his care, and being wrongly discharged.

His protest led to an apology from Combat Stress and a pledge from defence minister Tobias Ellwood to make sure there is no repeat of Mr Hales' case.

However Ms Freeth has said that the ongoing protest, which has attracted supporters from across the country, has led to services being moved away from the Audley Court premises.

Off-site

She said: "Since the end of August, there has been an ongoing protest outside Audley Court by veteran Gus Hales.

"Our concern has always been for his health and wellbeing. We have apologised to Mr Hales and are committed to resolving the issues.

"We have made full disclosure to him regarding his issues and continue to offer him reassessment and treatment with us.

"Two weeks ago, we took the decision for our Audley Court staff to work off-site.

"This followed incidents of staff receiving verbal threats and abuse, and individuals trespassing onto our property and filming through windows.

"Veterans who were due to attend Audley Court for treatment or support groups asked us to relocate their appointments as they were too anxious about the ongoing disruption.

"First and foremost, we have a duty of care to both our veterans and staff and are determined to provide the highest-quality service to those who need our help."

The chief executive said that they intend to start hosting services again as quickly as they can.

She said: "We aim to resume services at Audley Court as soon as possible.

"In the meantime, we are providing clinical services in alternative venues, some of which have been kindly provided to us free of charge for which we are extremely grateful."

'We like the staff'

Mr Hales has insisted he has not seen any abuse from those supporting him, and would ask anyone doing so to leave.

He said: "I have not seen that happen and if it did I would be right on top of it.

"There is no one here who would abuse them. We like the staff here, it is the organisation we have a problem with."

Mr Hales, who served as a Royal Engineers Paratrooper in the Falklands War, also said that although he had been told about Mr Ellwood's comments in Parliament, he had not received any personal communication.

He said: "Tobias Ellwood apparently stood up in Parliament and said there would not be a repeat over the way I have been treated but I have heard nothing from him myself."

Review

Last month Combat Stress said it would be reviewing how veterans had been discharged from its services in light of the issues raised by Mr Hales.

A spokesman for the charity said: "Mr Hales has raised two very important issues. Regarding the issue of his own discharge from our services, we have unreservedly apologised for the manner in which he was discharged in 2015.

“As a result of Mr Hales discharge, we will undertake a review to identify if any other veterans have been improperly discharged from Combat Stress.

"We have asked the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Health and partner military charities to participate and to identify anyone they know who feels they have been discharged improperly.

"Once we have this information, we will discuss with them how to meet their needs for any further support."