The Ministry of Defence has spent more than £8m compensating survivors of historic child sex abuse committed by military personnel or on military bases since 2017, openDemocracy can reveal.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by this website revealed that 155 civil claims have been successfully brought against the MoD for non-recent child sex offences in the past eight years.

On average, each claim led to a survivor receiving a taxpayer-funded payout of £52,000.

Solicitor-advocate Ahmed Al-Nahhas from Bolt Burdon Kemp law firm in London, which specialises in representing injured service personnel, said openDemocracy’s findings paint “a stark and worrying picture” for the British military.