A DISABLED war veteran is celebrating victory today after winning a David and Goliath battle with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over cut benefits.

The Morning Star has followed the struggle of ex-Royal Air Force (RAF) man Jonathan Williams, who was stripped of his £100-a-week stipend just before Christmas.

Last week he took Amber Rudd’s department to court, demanding she reinstate his Employment Support Allowance (ESA).

We can now reveal that Mr Williams won his appeal — and thanked the Star for covering his case.

“I’m so happy,” he told the paper. “It’s been such a weight on me for over six months.

“It should never have come to this but I’m so glad I’ve highlighted it.”

A tribunal in Newport, south Wales, found he has “a limited capability for work-related activity” and warned there was a “substantial risk” to his physical and mental health.

Mr Williams, a regular reader of the Star, served with the UN in Bosnia where he was trapped under fire in the siege of Sarajevo.

The events left him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He also served several tours of duty in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and was injured on exercise in the Arctic Circle when a helicopter landed on him.

The RAF veteran received incapacity benefits from 2001 until last year, when an agency worker declared him fit to work despite medical evidence to the contrary.

Mr Williams slammed Tory welfare cuts, saying the assessment process was “shocking” and lacked input from medically qualified staff. 

It was only at the tribunal stage that a doctor considered the evidence and immediately recognised Mr Williams’ disability. 

He commented: “This shows as clear as day that the assessment process is a way of trying to weed out people from claiming benefits.”

The DWP responded: “In most successful appeals decisions are overturned because people have submitted more evidence.

“Only a small proportion of all decisions are overturned, but our aim is for every person to feel they are treated fairly and we are improving how we support disabled people.”