A former soldier who is suing the MoD for a record £3.7million for trench foot has been accused of faking his condition by packing his feet in ice blocks before doctors examined him.

Brian Muyepa, 32, was diagnosed after being left in wet boots for five hours following a training exercise in Wales in 2016.

In his compensation claim, the former Royal Artillery gunner said non-freezing cold injuries — known by soldiers as trench foot — have left him with crippling pain.

But the High Court was told the condition was part of an alleged scam to ‘fool the diagnostic tests’.

The MoD earlier this year admitted it breached its duty of care towards Mr Muyepa, but later accused him of ‘exaggerating’ his claim when video footage emerged allegedly showed him dancing at a barbecue.

Lawyers have now applied to withdraw the original admission after a new witness came forward.

Andrew Ward, for the MoD, said the person would testify that Mr Muyepa ‘discussed with someone else packing ice blocks around his feet’ before being examined at the Institute of Naval Medicine in Gosport, Hampshire.

‘Our case is that the claim is entirely fraudulent,’ Mr Ward said.

Mr Muyepa was medically discharged in January 2018 and says he can walk only 100 metres with a walking stick.

His claim includes £800,000 for the loss of his Army career and £1.7million to pay for carers for the rest of his life.

But the MoD said the barbecue video — posted by his wife Racheal in August 2018 on her Facebook page — showed him being ‘much more mobile’ than he had indicated, leading it to conclude he had ‘overegged and exaggerated the claim’.

The clip has since been deleted. Mr Muyepa denies the MoD allegations.

A ten-day trial of the case is set to go ahead later this year.

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