Afghanistan war hero who lost limbs to Taliban bomb in blue badge row
A Royal Marine amputee hailed a "real hero" by Prince Harry after losing his limbs claims his application for a blue badge has been denied.
Ben McBean, who lost an arm and a leg to a landmine blast in Helmand Province in 2008, says his application did not "officially meetthe criteria." The father-of-two was initially handed a blue badge after returning to the UK before council bosses revoked it after seeing him use a prosthetic blade to run the London Marathon in aid of Help For Heroes.
Thirteen years later, former Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer intervened and helped Ben get the badge back, only for his renewal application to now be denied.
"I don't know what more I've got to do to be honest. I just didn't meet certain criteria", Ben from Plymouth told TalkTV. Plymouth City Council told him his disability living allowance payments are not in a high enough band to qualify. He told the Sun: "When you fill out the form, there isn’t a spot I could write my injuries in. If I could actually tell them I’m a double amputee, it’d be far easier. Instead, it’s a series of boxes to do with allowances, and I don’t tick the right boxes clearly, or didn’t meet the right criteria."
Even when Ben has held a blue badge, the war hero has been accused of faking his disability by members of the public. He was once fined for using a disabled bay, despite offering to show the traffic warden his blue badge, after someone complained that he was using a fake badge after he exited his car while wearing skin-coloured prosthetics on his leg and arm.
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The warden was "tapping on my window where the badge was - saying it’s a fake badge", he told the Independent last year.
"If you’re a double amputee, you have a disability, no question about it. The badge had been really useful for me to use, especially when I needed to visit the hospital", he told the Sun following the refusal of the badge. He continued: "I’m not getting any younger. My limbs will start getting knackered. To have the option taken away from me to get the help I need, it’s wrong. I’m walking round with two limbs and one’s broken, so what happens if I fall and smack my head because I have to walk longer?"
Plymouth Council said in a statement: "We have contacted Mr McBean to help him resolve an issue caused when he submitted a renewal application under a different name, which meant his details were not recognised.
"If he had submitted an application under the name on the current Blue Badge, it would have been renewed without issue. Suggestions that the application was not processed for any other reason are not correct. We are now helping Mr McBean renew his badge as soon as possible."
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