Claims that British army officers and soldiers conspired in a vicious campaign of sectarian intimidation against a Catholic soldier in Northern Ireland were yesterday described as "preposterous".
A lawyer representing the British Ministry of Defence accused Mr Patrick Murphy, a former private in the Royal Irish Regiment, of repeatedly lying in his claims that he was harassed by Protestant colleagues for more than 2½ years.
Mr Murphy (33), has told an employment tribunal in Belfast that he was driven to attempt suicide after fellow squaddies left bullets and sinister messages in his locker and sent a wreath to his home.
But barrister Mr Stephen Ritchie, in his closing submission on the fifth week of the hearing, said Mr Murphy's account of his treatment "was full of lies and inconsistencies".
"Mr Murphy is saying that not only his comrades, but his superior officers, doctors and the welfare department, were all well aware of what was going on and took no action to stop it.
"That suggestion of a conspiracy theory is highly unlikely to say the least," he added.
The lawyer pointed out that Mr Murphy had been unable to call any witnesses, including his estranged wife, to support his allegations of sectarianism.
"There is no physical evidence. Not one bullet, scrap of paper or photography to prove his claims," he said.
Mr Murphy, from south Down but originally from west Belfast, said the threats began when he was posted to Mahon Road barracks in Portadown, Co Armagh, in 1998 and continued a year later when he was transferred to Ballykinler army camp in Co Down. But Mr Ritchie said that Mr Murphy had failed to give satisfactory reasons whey he had failed to complain about his alleged treatment.
"Mr Murphy went to see his MP to help him get into the army. I asked him why didn't he go to his MP to try to stop what he says was going on and he said it didn't occur to him," he said.
The lawyer also claimed that Mr Murphy's suicide attempt in October 1998 had been staged to help his attempts to get out of the army.
Mr Murphy had asked for more regular hours, claiming his wife had walked out, leaving him to look after their two children. He then attempted to kill himself by attaching one end of a piece of hosepipe to the exhaust of his car and the other through the driver's window.
He was discovered unconscious in the driveway of his house by his wife, who had just returned from shopping. Mr Ritchie told the tribunal that the story simply didn't weigh up.
The tribunal will continue today when Mr Murphy's barrister, Ms Noelle McGrenera QC, will give her closing submission.