Soldier found dead in barracks was ‘degraded' by senior officers

Independent

2 days ago

A British soldier found dead in his barracks after being missing for three weeks was 'degraded' by his superior officers, with one posting videos of his 'humiliations' in a WhatsApp group, an inquest has heard.
A friend of Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan said 'bullying would be an understatement' as he described how the father-of-three was 'shouted, screamed and swore at', made to clean senior officers' cars in his own time and 'forced' to do extra runs in his lunch break without being given time to eat.
L/Cpl Mongan's decomposing body was discovered on January 23 2020 in his bedroom at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, three weeks after he was last seen.
An inquest at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court has heard his cause of death is still 'unascertained' as decomposition made it difficult for doctors to determine.
On Tuesday, former corporal Stephen Timmerman, who lived in the same accommodation block as L/Cpl Mongan, told the hearing he 'wasn't treated the same way' as other soldiers in their squadron.
He said: 'He was given tasks that he shouldn't have been given, and just the general way he was spoken to by higher ranks.
'His seniors, quite a few times, he would be left to do their work for them in his own time.'
Mr Timmerman said he could remember three occasions when L/Cpl Mongan, 33, was given a military Land Rover to clean that was not his.
He said that on a military exercise around three months before his death, L/Cpl Mongan was 'shouted and screamed at' in front of other soldiers by his own superior officers in his own department for carrying out an order from another department.
Mr Timmerman, who has since retired from the Army, said: 'It was very aggressive, very abrupt, some swearing … It was very harsh language and it wasn't his fault, he was carrying out an order he was told to do.'
He said that on the same exercise, L/Cpl Mongan was told to help other departments set up their radio masts but was refused help with his own and told to 'do it himself'.
Mr Timmerman said L/Cpl Mongan was put on remedial physical training after failing a fitness test, but was also 'forced to go for an extra run on the same day and given no time for having lunch and breakfast'.
He described L/Cpl Mongan as a 'cuddly teddy bear' who may have been a 'soft target' because he was 'a nice guy who took things easier'.
He told the inquest L/Cpl Mongan had issues with two sergeants and was 'undermined' and 'come down on very harshly', saying he had been considering a service complaint.
Asked if he was bullied, Mr Timmerman said: 'I would say that was an understatement.'
He told the hearing: 'They spoke to Bernie as if he was inconsequential,' adding that he had been spoken to 'like a piece of shit' and 'degraded'.
Asked if he was aware one officer 'had been posting videos on a WhatsApp group of humiliations of Bernie', Mr Timmerman said: 'I didn't know about that.'
The inquest heard L/Cpl Mongan had been selected for a detachment with 77 Brigade, which was due to start in January 2020, but that his room at Catterick would be kept for him while he was away so he could use it for visits with his three daughters.
Mr Timmerman said: 'There was a noticeable change in him, he was happy, he was ready to move away.'
The hearing was told L/Cpl Mongan had separated from his wife and spent Christmas at another soldier's house.
Mr Timmerman said he last saw him at the barracks on December 27, telling the inquest: 'He was very happy and couldn't wait to go for a detachment. He said: 'Have a good New Year, hopefully see you soon.''
The witness said he returned from a trip to Scotland on January 5 but was not expecting to see L/Cpl Mongan as he was due to be on detachment by then.
The inquest heard he started to notice an 'unusual smell' in the block after a few days, and on January 22, followed it down L/Cpl Mongan's corridor to realise it was coming from inside his room.
Mr Timmerman said the other rooms on L/Cpl Mongan's corridors were occupied but the soldiers were 'always away for work'.
He said once he realised where the smell was coming from he spoke to a superior officer about getting the keys for the room, and the two of them went in with a civilian staff member the next morning to find L/Cpl Mongan's body lying face down on his bed.
The inquest heard L/Cpl Mongan had tried to kill himself several times and spent time at a recovery centre run by Help For Heroes.
Former Royal Marine Jules Burnard, who struck up a friendship with him when they met at the facility, said he had last seen L/Cpl Mongan on January 1 2020, and that he had been 'very positive' and looking forward to the detachment.
Mr Burnard said L/Cpl Mongan had opened up to him about being bullied and how that had affected his mental health.
He told the hearing: 'He was a lovable, likeable, upbeat person. There was nothing not to like about Bernie.'
Captain Ben Atkin, who was Regimental Sergeant Major for L/Cpl Mongan's battalion, said he was never told that he had left the Irish Guards after being injured in a skiing accident, or that he had made several suicide attempts before arriving in the unit.
Asked if that was a significant failure in communication, he said: 'It's an issue, it's a failing, the system should have worked.'
Captain Atkin said the only time L/Cpl Mongan was discussed in regular welfare meetings was when he was the victim of an assault by two soldiers outside the battalion while on a night out in Catterick.
He told the inquest that towards the end of L/Cpl Mongan's life, he 'stopped looking soft and started looking more built,' and said he was pleased he seemed to be overcoming his issue with fitness.
Asked about L/Cpl Mongan being made to do extra runs, Captain Atkin said: 'Physical exercise is not allowed to be used in the British Army as a punishment. It's completely inappropriate and if I had seen it, I would have stopped it.'
The inquest, which is scheduled to last for three weeks, continues.