The case is likely to have far-reaching implications for Gulf war veterans, aerospace workers and civilians living in former war zones.
Richard 'Nibby' David, 49, suffers from serious respiratory problems, kidney defects and finds it extremely painful to move his limbs. Medical tests have revealed mutations to his DNA and damage to his chromosomes which he alleges has been caused by depleted uranium poisoning (DU), a radioactive waste product from the nuclear power industry that is used for shells because it can smash through tank armour.
Hundreds of tonnes of DU shells have been fired by US and British forces in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also been used as ballast in aircraft and counterweights on helicopter blades. While it is believed to be relatively harmless lying in the soil, a growing body of scientists believe that when its fine dust is inhaled it can cause a range of cancers, kidney damage and birth defects.
It has been alleged that DU used in the 1991 Gulf war was responsible for abnormally high levels of childhood leukaemia and birth defects in Iraq. France, Spain and Italy claim soldiers who served in Bosnia and Kosovo, where Nato used DU shells, have contracted cancers. It is also believed to be a possible cause of Gulf war syndrome, which has left thousand of veterans with mysterious health problems.
While the defence and nuclear industries have played down the danger of DU, David's case is the first time that the arguments will be heard before a court. Should he win, the verdict will send shockwaves through the military establishment as it could pave the way for huge compensation claims against the armed forces. He also believes that dozens of his fellow workers at the Honeywell site in Yeovil have also suffered. A number of his closest colleagues have died or contracted liver cancers.
Although the Legal Aid Board does not back personal injury claims, it decided that David's case was in the 'wider public interest'. The decision was a major victory after an eight-year struggle for justice after ill health forced him to give up his job in 1995 as a component fitter for Normalair Garrett, the Yeovil firm now owned by Honeywell, which makes parts for most of the world's fighter planes and bombers.
After being struck down by a disorder that left him paralysed with pain and unable to breathe properly, David began looking for clues as to the cause. The breakthrough came in September 1995 while watching a news bulletin on Gulf war syndrome on which he saw how a UK army major struggled to get out of her car.
'I was in unbearable pain and unable to move. I thought I was going to die,' he said. 'But when I saw this woman major trying to move and saw the intense pain in her eyes I immediately knew she was suffering like me.'
David had never been in the armed forces or the Middle East, but was convinced there was a link between his illness and those suffered by former Gulf troops. But it was not until February 1999 that the possibility that DU was the cause came when he heard a talk by US scientist Dr Asaf Durakovic, a former military doctor and nuclear medicine expert. Durakovic suggested that the debilitating, in some cases fatal, illnesses suffered by Gulf veterans were not necessarily caused by a cocktail of vaccines, as some claimed, but by DU poisoning.
Durakovic decided to test the urine samples of 15 UK Gulf veterans and agreed to include David's. Six months later, the results showed that he had one of the highest levels of uranium contamination out of all the samples.
'It was unbelievable,' said David. 'I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. On one hand it gave an answer to why I was suffering, but also the knowledge I would never recover. Above all I was confused. How could I have been contaminated in England?'
The answer was not long in coming. DU is a man-made material and experts told him that the most likely route of his contamination was his workplace. David decided to sue Honeywell Aerospace, but without being able to pay for lawyers it was impossible to collect evidence. But now he has been awarded legal aid he hopes to be represented by barrister Michael Mansfield QC and intends to call a stream of world experts to back his claim.
One is Malcolm Hooper, emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry and chief scientific adviser to the Gulf Veterans' Association.
'This case will be highly significant not only for soldiers but for many others. We know of cases where firemen have had to deal with fires caused by burning DU at factories and prison officers have also been contaminated by inhaling fumes. I am in no doubt that inhaling DU has the potential to cause a great deal of damage.'
Honeywell has declined to comment on details of the case, but will claim it never used DU at Yeovil. However, it is known that another aerospace group, Westland, which shared the Somerset site, has admitted using DU from 1966 until 1982 as counterweights for helicopter blades. David also claims Honeywell used special heavy metal alloys for making components which he believes may have contained DU.