Soldier made charity donation before death - inquest

The body of L/Cpl Bernard Mongan was not discovered for three weeks after his death

A soldier found dead in his room on a British Army base made uncharacteristic donations to a suicide charity shortly before his death, an inquest heard.

L/Cpl Bernard Mongan, whose body was not discovered for three weeks, was found in his barracks at Catterick Garrison on 23 January 2020.

At a three-week inquest at North Yorkshire Coroners' Court, evidence was given by the 33-year-old's wife, Beth Mongan, who was separated from him at the time of his death.

"He donated his time to charity but did not particularly make cash donations," she told the inquest.

Mrs Mongan told the inquest her last contact with him was on New Year's Day 2020 when he made a video call to their children.

Speaking about L/Cpl Mongan's mood during the call, Mrs Mongan described him as "overly happy" and "a bit all over the place".

"He tried to make as many plans as possible and overload himself," she said.

"It was a happy high but manic - he wasn't like that generally."

L/Cpl Mongan was found in his room at the barracks in Catterick Garrison

After his death, Mrs Mongan said she received a message from one of his friends saying he had made two donations to a fundraiser for the suicide awareness charity on 1 and 2 January.

The soldier had also given away his handheld games console to a friend's son shortly before his death, she told the hearing.

"That Nintendo was like a prize possession," she said.

"I thought it was a bit strange."

The Army gave her L/Cpl Mongan's possessions after his death, which included his laptop.

On there, she told the inquest she found emails from 2017 between the soldier and a proposed seller of a drug intended for those wanting to end their life.

During the communications, the inquest heard L/Cpl Mongan claimed he was terminally ill and "looking for a way out".

There was no proof a sale had taken place, the inquest heard.

'No evidence of bullying'

The inquest also heard from CSM Ian Allan, who investigated the allegation L/Cpl Mongan was being bullied at Catterick Garrison.

He said the soldier, known as Bernie, had come to him with complaints that his leave kept getting cancelled and he was "being treated differently" by two sergeants.

CSM Allan launched an investigation in September 2019 and spoke to those involved.

"My genuine gut instinct was that Bernie wasn't being bullied," he told the inquest.

"There was no evidence that he was being bullied."

He said the soldier's leave request had been denied on one occasion due to a training exercise.

He did make a doctor's appointment for L/Cpl Mongan after seeing him "crying uncontrollably" in his room, the inquest heard.

He said he continued to offer the soldier support until the last time he saw him in mid-November, when he went on extended leave.

The inquest continues.

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