Lord Carswell was addressing the House of Lords during a debate on UUP Lord Empey’s bill providing for compensation for UK victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism.

The bill would see some of the £9.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets in the UK used to compensate those injured or killed in IRA attacks.

Lord Carswell said: “The day before I was sworn in as a High Court judge, a booby-trap bomb was left under my car. By the grace of God, I saw it and I escaped. A very brave ammunition technical officer risked his life to try to defuse it and, unhappily, was only partly successful. The explosion took place and there was an immense amount of damage done to my car — which was a write-off — my house, the contents and, by way of after-effect, my wife’s health. I had to get on with my job and happily I was able to do so. She was badly affected for a long time.

“A couple of years later, my very close friend and colleague, Maurice Gibson, was blown up in his car by a road-side bomb as he crossed the border with his wife.

“The car and its occupants were incinerated. The distress to his family, which I have seen close-up, can never be compensated sufficiently. But it should be registered and an attempt made.

“I really produce these remarks for the simple reason of showing that the distress and effects are real and personal to very many people.

“Most of them have suffered far more than I have, but I can appreciate their feelings and their wishes that this Bill should go through, and I have the pleasure of supporting it.”

However, Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon warned there were “some practical difficulties” as presently drafted.