A TRANSEXUAL Falklands veteran will pocket nearly £70,000 in a Royal Navy pension pay-out.

Lynda Cash celebrated in August after being told she was to receive a back-dated invalidity pension payout following her discharge from service in 1986.

The sex-swap woman had hoped for a six figure lump-sum and was initially furious to learn she had been taxed £17,000 on a pension payout of £45,000.

But yesterday, Ministry of Defence officials confirmed the tax is to be refunded and Lynda will receive an additional £13,000 after Navy chiefs agreed that she had been invalided out of service.

It means she will now get £68,000 from MoD coffers.

The award comes almost a year after she claimed she tried to take her own life as she continued her compensation battle with defence bosses, claiming sex discrimination.

But yesterday, Lynda, aged 49, of Daisy Hill, claimed MoD chiefs have failed to pay her accrued back-dated interest on the lump-sum payment.

Now she is fighting for the 13 years' interest which she claims is rightfully hers, although MoD chiefs insist they have no legal obligation to pay interest.

Angry

Lynda, formerly father-of-one Brian Waling, said: "I feel angry and I won't let them get away with this.

"At the end of the day all they have given me is the pension to which I was entitled to anyway.

"If I had invested all of that money in those last 13 years it would have added up to quite a sizeable sum by now."

Lynda, who served alongside Prince Andrew in the Falklands, is also now receiving £370-a-month invalidity pension.

The back-dated pension came after a Royal Navy medical board reviewed Lynda's records in respect of the post-traumatic stress she was suffering when she left service.

She says the medical condition was brought on by what she saw while working in operating theatres during the fierce conflict.

And Lynda says she will also continue her fight for compensation amid claims that Navy bosses sexually discriminated against her.

She is due to travel to London on November 19 for an employment tribunal appeal over the alleged discrimination.

An MoD spokesman yesterday said it was doubtful any interest would be paid out.

He added: "The MoD has no legal obligation to pay back-dated interest on this sort of payment.

"There's no way of showing or proving that the person would have invested it.

"This is not compensation, it's back-dated pension owed to Miss Cash."

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