Sunday People

WIDOW’S PLEA FOR OPEN INQUIRY

- By Sean Rayment

GRIEVING widow Sammi Ferguson refuses to stay silent about the welfare failures which led to her husband’s suicide.

Sammi, 50, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, said the Army was planning to conduct an inquiry into her husband’s death but it would be behind closed doors.

She said: “The Ministry of Defence is very good at brushing you aside. The inquiry into my husband’s death will have no input from me. The Army is policing itself. It’s ridiculous.

“The investigat­ion into my husband’s death should be done externally but this is the MOD. Once the door is closed that’s it.

“What are the MOD so afraid of that I couldn’t take part in the inquiry? This way they don’t have to answer the tough questions.

The MOD does not want people like me asking difficult questions of those who were meant to be responsibl­e for my husband’s welfare. But I’m not going to sit on the sidelines and remain.”

Sammi also said she suspected the MOD did not collate figures on veterans’ suicide because the department was in denial.

She said: “If they say there is a problem they will have to fix it.”

She said of Jamie: “He helped a lot of people. He was a gifted soldier and a wonderful husband.” Veterans minister Johnny Mercer, said: “Every suicide is a tragedy felt throughout the entire armed forces community.

“The department is determined to do all we can to tackle this issue. There are ongoing studies to better understand the number of ex-service personnel who take their lives, as well as the causes.

“There is a range of help available including specialist NHS care. I will continue to do my utmost to make sure our people know where to turn to.”

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