FAILED BY THE ARMY

Scathing report lists 45 major errors over bullied soldier death

A BULLIED soldier who lay dead in his barracks for three weeks was failed by the Army, a damning report found.

It revealed 45 errors in the care of Lance Corporal Bernie Mongan.

The Sunday Mirror broke the story of the scandal around the 33-year-old’s death last year.

His widow Beth, 31, said: “It’s clear he felt bullied, this was not investigated properly, his mental health suffered, he was telling people he was afraid and he was not checked properly in the days before he died. If those checks had been carried out properly, we might not be here now.”

Bernie, classed as vulnerable, was found in his room at Catterick Barracks, North Yorks, in January 2020. A senior non-commissioned officer was assigned to contact him daily during Christmas leave.

But the inquiry found he spoke to Bernie once, telling him to make contact if “there were any issues”.

Failings go back to 2007, when Bernie returned from Iraq with the Irish Guards. He was meant to have an interview to assess his mental health but the document states it never took place.

Bernie left the Army in 2012 but rejoined in 2015, later switching to the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion. In 2016, Bernie reported he had made a suicide attempt. Rules state it should be reported to the Royal Military Police – but this never happened.

In October 2018, he sustained a fractured eye socket when beaten by two soldiers from another unit. A Victim Support Officer should have been appointed but was not. The same year, Bernie felt he was bullied by two senior soldiers but rules around the complaints were not followed. At Christmas 2019, he stayed on camp.

When he failed to attend a briefing no one checked on him. Beth and their three daughters did not learn he had died for three days because nextof-kin details were out of date. Beth is pushing for more answers and has launched a fundraising page to cover legal fees. Lawyer Emma Norton, of the Centre for Military Justice, said: “Bernie’s wife is devastated. All the evidence points to another serious failure.” Brigadier Edward Chamberlain, of the Army Personnel Services Group, said: “We are truly sorry. Wellbeing is critical at every level. We fell short and we apologise. We will implement all the recommendations to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.”

His mental health suffered, he was... afraid and he was not checked properly BETH MONGAN WIDOW REACTS TO DAMNING REPORT ON ARMY FAILURES

You can donate at crowdjustice. com/case/bernard-mongan

LET DOWN Bernie died in barracks BATTERED Two soldiers attacked him MY LOST HERO Beth and soldier husband Bernie