Northern Ireland-Vet under a cloud.

A vet who swindled the Ministry of Defence by claiming their noisy helicopters killed thousands of livestock has been granted the right to practise in Northern Ireland again.

Seamus Fegan (48) was banned from practising as a vet after he was jailed for 15 months in 2002 after he insisted more than 17,000 terrified animals drowned after running into slurry pits.

Fegan said he carried out 9,008 post mortems on farm animals in South Armagh, earning himself more than £150,000.

He was convicted in 2002 of 31 counts of fraud and asked for a further 15 to be taken into consideration.

After he was released from prison, he sank into depression and developed an alcohol problem, which he says he has now recovered from.

Fegan yesterday attended a hearing of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in London as it decided whether he should be allowed to register as a vet again.

The Warrenpoint vet told the hearing he is no longer an alcoholic and does not associate with others who were involved in the scam.

Fegan said: "The episode that began in 1990 and ended in 2002, I am ashamed of it and embarrassed and don’t want to look back on it at all really.

"If I could turn the clock back I would wipe it out altogether.

"The alcohol dependency has been totally removed and my psychological health is an awful lot better.

I am ashamed of it and embarrassed... If I could turn the clock back I|would wipe it|out altogether

"The financial difficulties have certainly eased and my house is certainly not under threat any more at this stage."

The tribunal later ruled that Fegan, from the Bridge Road area of Warrenpoint, would be allowed to return to work as a vet.

Tribunal chair Alison Bruce said: "Three reports from a consultant psychiatrist showed that Mr Fegan’s mental and physical state had improved considerably in the years since his name was removed from the register.

"The committee heard evidence that Mr Fegan had the continuing support of his wife and three children, three of whom are in tertiary education."

The committee said it was ’favourably impressed’ by Fegan’s current situation and unanimously agreed to restore his name to the veterinary register.

Fegan has been unable to work in Northern Ireland since 2003, but his name is still on the register in the Republic of Ireland where he currently works.

He was convicted after writing death certificates on behalf of farmers in South Armagh under an MOD compensation scheme.

In 1990, the MOD set up a scheme called ACONI, the Area Claims Office of Northern Ireland, to deal with compensation claims ’for loss and damage caused by helicopter activity’.

Between April 1 1994 and March 31 1995, farmers made 20,679 claims for animals said to have died because of helicopter operations.

Some 17,000 of these came from Fegan’s practice.