It is hard sitting with a veteran - someone decorated for bravery, no less - when he tells you he has been thinking of taking his life. Gut-wrenching though it was, I wasn't surprised. I has seen this coming for months.

Dave (not his real name) is one of hundreds of veterans who are now having their service turned against them, and used to humiliate and destroy them. You see, Dave's wife made a domestic violence complaint against him, claiming that he was violent because of his service in the Defence Force. For good measure she claimed he had access to weapons because of his service, and all his friends had access to weapons as well.

The suicide rate among war veterans is higher than in the general population.

For a proud man like Dave, it was a kick in the guts. He had left the Army a decade ago, and had not handled a weapon for years. In fact, the only person he knows who has a gun is a friend who is a priest.

Absurd though it was, this stuff sticks. Dave's lawyer told him not to fight the claim because he couldn't risk the magistrate finding against him and ending up on a domestic violence register for the rest of his life.