Angry former PoW Arthur Titherington risked arrest by spitting at the Japanese parliament building after a long court battle for compensation ended in defeat.

The veteran Witney campaigner said his outburst was a reaction to the "kick in the teeth" he felt after a court in Tokyo ruled that his claim for compensation for his treatment during the Second World War was not ad- missable.

Speaking from his hotel in Tokyo, Mr Titherington, 76, of Church Green, said: "The actual announcement by the Japanese judge took no longer than 20 seconds.

"When I realised what he was saying - that the events of 1942 to 1945 had no bearing on mine and everyone else's claim - I got up and stormed out. "I made my way out and I walked the streets of Tokyo and found my way to the Diet, the Japanese parliament building.

"There were a lot of police around so without really thinking I walked up to a policeman and asked if this was the Diet.

"I knew it was but I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what I was doing.

"I swept past him and I spat on the floor.

"I then stormed away and wandered around to another entrance where there were more police and I repeated my action.

"I then returned to my group at a press conference where I said what I had done and said there is no justice in Japan at all."

Mr Titherington, who is chairman of the Japanese Labour Camps Survivors' Association, added: "It is a very long time since I have been quite so upset as I was.

"We are appealing, but I am not happy about it.

"Are we going to spend more time and money just to get another kick in the teeth?"

He was one of seven former prisoners from Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, who claimed they were entitled to £13,500 compensation each.

The court also rejected a demand for an apology from the Japanese government for the suffering caused to PoWs and internees during the Second World War.

Mr Titherington was one of only 90 survivors of 523 British labourers at a copper mine in Taiwan during his captivity. He weighed just five-and-a-half stones when he was liberated.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.