An ex-US Marine bomb technician set alight in a barbecue explosion while serving in Darwin is suing the governments of Australia and his home country for millions of dollars in damages.
Evan James Williamson was on deployment in Darwin in 2019 as an aircraft ordinance technician at an Australian Army base in the Northern Territory city.
The 25-year-old has claimed in court documents seen by the ABC that he received 30 per cent burns to his body after attempting to light a barbecue which officials knew had a gas leak.
The documents say that around 11pm on August 1, 2019, Mr Williamson had tried to light the barbecue "to cook some hot dogs and burgers", unaware there was a pre-existing leak.
"Immediately upon attempting to light the barbecue [he] had his entire body from his ankles up to his face consumed by flames, resulting in significant injuries to much of his body," the documents say.
"The incident resulted from gas from the gas leak being ignited when the plaintiff attempted to light the barbecue using his lighter."
His statement of claim says Mr Williamson was left with significant scarring, inhalation injury and burns across his whole body, as well as psychological injury from the explosion, including depression.
Since the incident, Mr Williamson said he had "lost much of his capacity to engage in employment" and was still dealing with high levels of "pain, suffering and loss of the amenities of life".
He had also been forced to receive treatment for his injuries at Royal Darwin Hospital, Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Brooke Army Medical Centre in Texas, USA.
Claims US and Australian officials knew of leak
Mr Williamson alleges senior members of the US Marines and Australian Defence Force were aware of the leak prior to the incident, however, had not made any real efforts to warn soldiers it was unusable.
He is also alleging negligence by companies involved in the upkeep of the base and the barbecue, Ventia Australia and B & L Dowling Pty Ltd.
"The Commonwealth, Broadspectrum [now rebranded as Ventia] and the USA knew or ought reasonably to have known that … the barbecue constituted a significant danger of serious injury or death to any person who may use the barbecue, including the plaintiff," the documents say.
Mr Williamson was discharged from the US Marines in 2021, and the documents show he has since been working as an Uber driver in Las Vegas.
He is suing for loss and damages of around $US5 million [$7.5 million Australian].
US government seeking immunity from prosecution
In a court hearing in Darwin on Friday, lawyers for the US government argued that the USA should be immune from facing prosecution by one of its citizens in the court of a foreign country.
Barrister for the US government, Dr Christopher Ward SC, argued that the US should "retain foreign sovereign immunity" in the case, as it did not involve any harm or incident to an Australian citizen.
He said the US was not arguing over the fact of the explosion.
"Everybody is understandably concerned that the barbecue exploded," Dr Ward said.
NT Supreme Court Justice Vince Luppino will now consider if the US government is indeed immune from prosecution over the man's injuries.
If it is, it is yet to be decided if Mr Williamson will pursue his action against the other parties.
