Widow’s fury after soldier lay dead for 3 weeks at barracks
A WIDOW is calling on the Army to explain why it took three weeks to find her soldier husband dead in his barracks room.
War veteran Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan, 33, seems likely to have died on New Year’s Day, according to analysis of his mobile phone.
But widow Beth, who does not believe he would have killed himself, has told how his body was only found in his private room in the barracks on January 23. By that time it was so decomposed it may be impossible to find the cause of death. The father of three had complained to a friend of being bullied and beaten up by other soldiers.
Mrs Mongan, 30, told a friend: ‘I can’t help think he could have been seriously ill for several days in his room but no-one bothered to check, even though someone must have known he was missing.’ L/Cpl Mongan, who worked in military signals intelligence, seems to have died at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire on New Year’s Day or the next day, not long after talking to his wife.
But his friend Bella Innes, 37, a veterans’ support worker, said her phone indicated he read a message from her on January 4.
She revealed he had been bullied and recently beaten up by two Irish Guards because he had a southern Irish accent after being raised in the republic. The Army could face further questions because the soldier was to begin an attachment to 77 Brigade Headquarters in Berkshire on January 8 – meaning his absence without leave was missed at two bases.
L/Cpl Mongan had served with the Irish Guards from 2004 to 2012. He rejoined the Army in 2015 as a member of the Royal Signals attached to the Intelligence Corps.
He was separated from his wife but they remained friends. Mrs Mongan said police had told her they had handed the investigation to the Army and
‘Bullied and beaten up’
added that she did not believe he would have killed himself. The Sunday Mirror reported that Mrs Mongan told a friend: ‘I last spoke to him on January 1 and he was planning to take the children to Lapland later this year. He was also excited about his new posting. He wasn’t behaving like someone about to take his own life.
‘He had been bullied quite a bit over the last couple of years. He was beaten up and as far as I am aware it is being treated as a racist incident.’
She added: ‘How can a soldier be dead in his room for three weeks and nobody notice? When he failed to report for duty, why wasn’t his room checked? I’ve not received any answers. The Army has kept me in the dark.’
North Yorkshire Police said tests are being carried out to indicate the cause of death.
An Army spokesman said the death was being investigated and it ‘would be inappropriate to comment any further’.