‘Too complex’ for coroners to record veteran suicides

The MOJ said it was too complex for coroners to record veteran suicides, in particular because of the potential difficulties of accurately establishing a victim’s occupational history.

“For this reason, there are no plans to require coroners to record this kind of information in the context of suicide conclusions,” a spokesperson said. The MOD is considering how to respond to the setback.

An MOD spokeswoman replied: “We take the wellbeing of all those who have served extremely seriously and we are currently considering how we can better understand the cohort of veterans who take their own lives.”

Earlier this month, Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood, a former Royal Green Jackets Captain, offered a public apology to the grieving families of veterans and serving personnel who took their lives this year and last, vowing to fight on in addressing the issue.

Since the investigation highlighted the issue, the Government has begun a study into suicide rates among veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

NHS trusts in England have provided some indication of the scale of the mental health issues – like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – facing those who leave active duty. Some 21,190 veterans were referred for psychological therapies in 2017/18, up 2,000 in 12 months.

Jeff Williams, an ex-royal Marine Sergeant Major, whose group Veterans Against Suicides estimated 80 former and current personnel had died by suicide in 2018, said the MOJ ruling out support from coroners was ‘devastating’. “I am not surprised but I am pretty devastated because a lot of people in the veterans community have hung their hats on this happening,” he said.

“We were under the impression that this was in the late stages of being implemented and it wasn’t going to be a problem.”