Thousands of armed forces veterans homeless or in prison According to the analysis, some 50,000 are coping with mental health conditions

More than 60,000 armed forces veterans in the UK have broken the law, are homeless or are suffering mental health problems, a study has disclosed.

The scale of their struggle to adjust to civilian life brought accusations that ministers were failing men and women who had risked their lives for their country.

According to the analysis, some 50,000 are coping with mental health conditions, 10,000 are in prison, on parole or on probation and 6,000 have no permanent address.

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Plaid Cymru, which compiled the figures through parliamentary questions, academic research and military charities, said the actual figures were likely to be far higher.

Liz Saville Roberts, its justice spokeswoman, said the party had been campaigning for better care for veterans for a decade. “Our research shows that the problem is still rife, and the Government needs to start taking its duty of care seriously,” she said.

Welfare issue

Ministers have disclosed that more than 25,000 veterans received mental health treatment in 2016-17, but the Mental Health Foundation says only half ask for help, implying there are 50,000 former military personnel with mental health issues.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 3 per cent of people admitted to prison have a services background, which suggests that around 9,600 are in the criminal justice system at any one time. Napo, the probation union, has claimed the proportion is closer to 8 per cent.

Ms Saville Roberts added: “These veterans were willing to put their lives on the line for their country. That country must take responsibility for their welfare on return.”

A government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to supporting those who struggle.”

She said the MoD last year introduced a 24-hour helpline for former service personnel who need help with health, housing and money problems. The Government was spending £1.2bn over the next two years on tackling homelessness, while veterans were given high priority access to social housing.

The British Legion has estimated that there are currently about 6,000 homeless veterans in the UK.

Three case studies

A 27-year-old man from West Yorkshire who joined the Army at 16 and was medically discharged at 20 with mental health issues He was on active duty in Iraq and saw a friend blown up in his first days of service. He suffers with severe depression and has nine convictions dating back to 2005, two for domestic violence. A common thread for his offending behaviour is substance misuse and binge-drinking. A 23-year-old former soldier from Cumbria who served with the Parachute Regiment He left military service in late 2005 with no previous convictions, but since then has been convicted seven times, with five spells in prison. He said he had failed to readjust to ordinary life because he found it hard to “reconcile the devastation, horror and distress of the war zone, with the comfortable life” people take for granted in Britain. A 41-year-old former soldier who served four years in Northern Ireland and Iraq and was convicted of burglary to obtain alcohol He has been diagnosed with panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The man, from Surrey, describes himself as alcohol-dependent, and has had difficulty engaging with probation following his conviction.

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