A ROYAL Marine from Cwmbran left in a wheelchair after he broke his neck in a Canary Island beach tragedy has been left empty-handed after losing his £8m damages claim.

Spencer Vaughan, 27, was paralysed after diving into shallow water off a beach in Gran Canaria while on a training exercise with his commando unit in July 2009.

Left an incomplete tetraplegic, Mr Vaughan, who now lives in Plymouth, sued the Ministry of Defence for up to £8 million in compensation.

He claimed his superiors should have done more to protect him from injury, by issuing a general warning about possible dangers.

But after a trial earlier this month, he was today left with nothing when Mr Justice William Davis dismissed his claim.

The young marine had 'misjudged' the position with 'catastrophic' results, said the judge.

Earlier, the court heard Mr Vaughan and his comrades had been selected for an off-shore sailing trip as part of the exercise, touring in a naval yacht.

As the exercise approached its end, they were given some time off and decided to go to a nearby tourist beach to relax and exercise.

Mr Vaughan was injured when he ran into the sea and performed a shallow dive, hitting his head on something under the water.

During the case, Mr Vaughan, who is due to start as a student at Cardiff Met University, denied having entered the water in a 'Baywatch-style' dive.

Giving his ruling, the judge said he could not be sure what it was that Mr Vaughan hit his head on.

But he found that the Ministry of Defence was not liable for his injuries, because the accident had not happened in the course of his employment.

'Marine Vaughan had a genuine and informed choice as to how he entered the sea,' he said.

'He was not acting in the course of his employment. He was not subject to any lack of capacity.

'He assessed whether it was safe to do what he did before he went head first into the sea. He misjudged the position with catastrophic results.

'It is a tragedy that a young man of such promise has suffered such a serious injury.

'Unfortunately I cannot ameliorate the position in which he now finds himself with a finding of liability on the part of the defendant unless there is a proper legal basis for doing so.

'I am satisfied that there is none.'

His claim was dismissed.