IN your article "Lesbian soldier may get £400,000 payout" (Echo, Jan 18) you reported that Kerry Fletcher's legal team say that she should receive £381,000 compensation after winning her case against the Ministry of Defence at an employment tribunal for sexual harassment.

In addition, she may receive a further £40,000 for hurt feelings.

Also, in your story "Ash awarded £5m for bug nightmare" (Echo, Jan 17) you reported that actress Leslie Ash is to receive £5m compensation following an out-ofcourt settlement with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital over contracting a superbug.

Yet elderly people who are robbed, beaten up and end up in hospital with broken bones often receive less than £5,000 compensation after a two-year fight with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

What sort of society are we living in when the authorities believe that compensating hurt feelings is more important than broken bones, or that it is more important to pay £5m compensation to a rich actress when the maximum payout for dying with lung disease caused by asbestos dust is £10,000 in England and then only to the spouse of the victim?

Keith Dewison, Billingham.