Soldier son’s suicide after errors
A GRIEVING mum has hit out at blunders she says failed to prevent her war hero son killing himself. The body of post-traumatic stress sufferer Danny Johnston, 35, was found in woods near his home in May, three days after he was reported missing.
His mother Viv Johnston has revealed how doctors failed to give Danny urgent treatment even though he appeared to be preparing to kill himself a week earlier. She says she then had to call in Danny’s ex-Army colleagues to bolster the police’s “inadequate” search, which had dwindled when an officer incorrectly said on social media he had been found.
Mrs Johnston, of West Sussex, said: “Danny was too special to die alone the way he did. He gave his all for this country, only to be completely let down in his hour of need.
“It is disgusting how veterans are treated, they are just left alone. He was a genuine hero.” She said her son, who had been handpicked for the elite Special Reconnaissance Regiment, joined up at 17 and served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But he suffered from mental health issues after his 2013 discharge.
Sussex Police did not respond to requests for comment but earlier said they had done all they could to find Danny in an “incredibly challenging investigation”. The Ministry of Defence did not respond to comment requests.