British war hero's fiancee finally cleared of illegally claiming his Army pension

A diamond engagement ring sits on Janine Fearick's kitchen table. When she is on her own, in her flat, she wears it. But she will never be seen with it in public. For Janine, the questions it raises are too painful. She cannot bear to explain that it was bought by her fiance, Andrew, but that he died two years ago. At 19, Andrew Cutts became the youngest British soldier to be killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was heralded as 'brave and exemplary' by his commanding officer, and the former pit village of Blidworth, Nottinghamshire, where both Andrew and Janine grew up, came to a standstill for his funeral. Leading the 500 mourners, Janine hoped the funeral would give her some much-needed closure.

But it was only the beginning of what has been an unimaginably gruelling ordeal - an intimidating whispering campaign in the village that she had lied about her relationship with Andrew to qualify for a Government payout. She was jostled in the street, ignored by friends and her mother's car tyres were let down every night. A severed chicken's head was even pushed through her letterbox. Rendered a recluse, Janine lost her job as a legal secretary, moved house and relied on sleeping pills and antidepressants to maintain her sanity.

Finally she was interviewed by officers from the Ministry of Defence Police, who accused her of falsely claiming she met the criteria for compensation - that she was married, engaged or living as a partner with Andrew. She was arrested and charged with obtaining property by deception, facing up to 16 years in prison. To make matters worse, her mother Jeannie was accused of helping her.

Last Monday - 16 months after her arrest - Janine's nightmare finally ended when both she and her mother walked free from Nottingham Crown Court after the MoD was unable to offer a shred of evidence against them. The prosecution, whose lawyers were so resigned to defeat that they did not even turn up in court, was forced to concede that Janine transferred the entire 63,000 pounds compensation to Andrew's family as soon as she received it - a full five months before she was charged.

Judge Michael Stokes QC cleared them absolutely. 'It is a tragedy that this prosecution was ever started,' he said. 'You can both leave court without a stain on your characters. You are both owed an apology.'

But Janine, now 22, is still angry. 'I cannot believe I was accused of profiting from Andrew's death,' she says. 'The Army bullied me into accepting the compensation in the first place. I didn't want the money. It felt as if I was putting a price on my fiance's life. 'There are hundreds of troops in Afghanistan whose lives could be saved by better body armour. 'But instead they wasted taxpayers' money pursuing a non-existent case against me. 'An apology wouldn't bring Andrew back, but it would help me come to terms with what has happened. I don't think I've had a chance to grieve properly. 'Even now, when I see something about the Army on television, I find myself crying. Andrew would have been horrified at the way I've been treated.'

It is hard to imagine quite why the villagers of Blidworth turned against Janine. It is not as if her relationship with Andrew was a flash in the pan. 'They had been neighbours since the age of seven and became boyfriend and girlfriend in the summer of 2004 when they were both 17. 'He'd just learned to drive through his Army training and would wave at me from his Astra,' remembers Janine, who now lives in nearby Mansfield.

With Andrew spending his working week at Colchester Barracks, they made the most of weekends. 'He bought me flowers and wine gums, my favourite sweets,' she says. 'He was a lad's lad, but kind and caring too.'

They had been going out for just over a year when Andrew proposed on Janine's 19th birthday in September 2005. He had told her he would be away on a training weekend, but turned up by surprise and suggested they go for a drive. 'We started bickering because it was hot and he wouldn't let me wind down the car windows,' recalls Janine. 'Then he told me I had something on my face and to look in the mirror. When I pulled the visor down, an engagement ring fell out.

'I never thought in a million years that he'd propose, but we were both laughing when I said yes. I knew he was the man I wanted to marry. 'Even though we were both young, it felt right. I felt settled and happy and so excited. I'd never been the broody type but I knew I wanted to have children with him.'

Although Andrew's aspiration to serve abroad prevented them setting a date, they began to plan the wedding. Janine says: 'We looked at menus and venues. Planning our life together was exciting and both our families were thrilled.' Janine's mother moved out of her three-bedroom home and rented it to Andrew and his fiancee. 'It was the first time I'd lived with a boyfriend and I threw myself into it,' says Janine. 'I redecorated our bedroom in deep purples and blues and bought new bedding so the place would be ours.'

In May 2006, Andrew - a private in the Royal Logistic Corps - was posted to Afghanistan for six months. 'He was so excited to be in the Army and wanted to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan,' says Janine. 'His twin brother James was also a soldier. We all got on well together. 'I told Andrew to be careful, but I knew he'd never put himself in unnecessary danger. I stood with his mum as we waved him off.'

Janine wrote to him twice a day. Initially Andrew found life in the war zone tough. 'He called me in tears,' she says. 'It was horrible. I felt powerless. I reminded him of the boxer dog he wanted when he came home. 'Gradually, though, he grew up out there. He said he wanted to start a family when he came home.'

Janine was in the village pub with Andrew's mother when an Army officer walked in on August 6, 2006. 'He took his mother outside and I heard her scream. I knew what had happened,' she says. 'When he told me I was too stunned to react. It was two days before I could cry. When I did I roared. 'For a while I couldn't eat or sleep. I took time off work and shut myself in the house. I didn't want to talk to anyone and I isolated myself.'

Andrew had been shot in the head during an operation codenamed Snakebite, an attack on the village of Musa Qaleh in Helmand Province which was known to shelter Taliban commanders. He had chosen to act as a Jeep gunner, knowing that the position was the most exposed. An inquest later revealed he was probably killed by 'friendly fire'. His body was flown home a week later. Janine wrote a speech for the funeral. 'I talked about how he had to be the first and last at any party.' She smiles shyly at the memory. 'I told everyone he was my sunshine. I couldn't sleep after he died. I don't think I've had a full night's sleep since.'

In October 2006, an Army officer called at Janine's house to tell her she was entitled to compensation. 'I said I wasn't bothered, that money wouldn't make me feel better,' she says. 'I didn't want the hassle and said that Andrew's family should get it. My mum told the officer to leave me to grieve. But he called back an hour later.' Janine says she was then bombarded with calls, letters and visits from the Army's pension department. 'When I ignored them they started calling my mum. In the end she said I might as well go along with it.'

Janine was scrupulously honest throughout, confirming that they had lived together, but only for a few months; that they were getting married, but hadn't set a date. 'As proof that we were living together, Mum sent in the notebook in which she kept a record of our rent payments,' she says.

That month, Janine was invited on a Mediterranean cruise by Andrew's family, to whom she had turned for solace. But she sensed they were becoming hostile towards her. 'I felt isolated and pushed out,' she says. 'I called my mum every day, in tears.' The family, she claims, accused her of flirting with Andrew's brother James and with one of the waiters. 'I still don't know what I did wrong,' she says. 'They stopped speaking to me when we got home.'

The day she returned from the cruise, Janine received a letter saying she had been awarded not only a 63,000 lump sum but a pension of 10,000 a year until she remarried. 'I was shocked,' she says. 'I thought at most I would get 2,000. It confused me and made me feel guilty. I didn't want to feel I was benefiting from Andrew's death.' A week later she received an angry call from a member of Andrew's family. 'They accused me of stealing his money,' she reveals. 'I hadn't been told that only one person could claim. I called my Army liaison officer and told him what had happened. 'He denied encouraging me to claim and all the discussions we'd had. But his emails later proved that we'd had the meetings.'

Almost immediately, her neighbours in the village scented the feud between Janine and Andrew's family. 'People I'd been friends with stopped talking to me,' she recalls.

In November 2006, she persuaded Andrew's father Karl, a painter and decorator, to meet her. 'I said how sorry I was, that I had never intended to hurt them or take their money,' she says. 'He was in tears and said he loved me. I told him, as I'd told the Army, that his family could have the money.' Indeed, the day the 63,000 arrived in her account a few weeks later, she wrote a cheque for Karl. She has since heard nothing more from the Cutts.

Five months later the MoD Police phoned to say she had to turn herself in or be arrested. They refused to discuss the allegations and she agreed to meet them at Mansfield police station. When she arrived, two MoD Police officers handcuffed her and told her she was under arrest for conspiracy to defraud. 'They tried to explain the charges, but I couldn't take it in,' she says. 'They said they would drop the charges if I accepted a caution but I refused. I knew I was innocent.'

The police also arrested Janine's mother. The rent book she had given the Army pensions office was the sole evidence against her. It was only after they were charged - and told that Janine faced up to 16 years in prison - that they learned what lay behind the case. A member of Andrew's family had complained.

Shortly after the arrests, the Army liaison officer Janine had dealt with - the MoD's witness against her --was posted to Afghanistan. The trial was delayed for a year. Janine lost her job, was prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping tablets and was treated in hospital for stress-related stomach pains.

She protested to the MoD Police that she was innocent. 'But they insisted my engagement ring had been just a Christmas present,' she says. Such was the flimsy nature of the prosecution that the judge told both sides at a pre-trial hearing ten days ago that he could not believe the case had gone this far....

An MoD Police spokesman said: 'We will study the judgment to see if it can further inform our investigative strategy.' Ian Cunningham, Crown Advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Having considered the evidence given to us by the MoD Police, we decided it was in the public interest to prosecute the Fearicks. 'It was only after a witness in the case, an Army officer, returned from Afghanistan that we were given further evidence, which meant we were no longer in a position to proceed.' [A good thing their "witness" survived Afghanistan!]

Original report here



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