A family at war
Hero’s widow and mother clash over burial place
HIS tragic death shattered the lives of the two women who loved him most.
However, instead of being united in their grief, war hero Mark Connolly’s widow and his mother have bitterly clashed over where the 24-year-old should be buried.
Private Connolly of the Black Watch, who survived a bomb blast in Afghanistan, died last year after getting caught up in a pub brawl, allegedly killed by a fellow soldier.
But for 12 months his body has been in a mortuary while those closest to him argue about where he should be laid to rest.
Now his 27-year-old widow Stacy is preparing to go to court to win the right to bury him in Forfar, Angus, where the couple planned to settle.
The stand-off with his mother Linda McComiskie, who insists he wanted to be buried near his grandfather in Fife, has meant his body remains in cold storage in London.
Last night Mrs Connolly told the Scottish Mail on Sunday she was deeply saddened at having to take
‘I’ve not been able to
say my goodbyes’
the case to Forfar Sheriff Court. ‘I’m asking for rights of burial,’ she said. ‘We are just waiting for a date, but hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
‘If I lose there will be nothing more I can do. I just hope it won’t come to that and I’ll get to bring Mark home where he should be.’
She added: ‘It’s been extremely difficult at times, but I’ve tried very hard to act in a dignified manner. Nothing else really matters other than getting Mark laid to rest. It has been a year now, it’s far too long for anybody to be lying in the morgue.
‘I haven’t dealt with it because I’ve not been able to say my goodbyes. A year has passed and I’ve had no place to go,’ she added.
‘I couldn’t be at his grave, that’s the hardest part of it all’.
The couple married in 2009, the year Private Connolly was hurt in a blast in Kandahar. His friend, 20-year-old Robert McLaren from Mull, died in the explosion.
Mrs Connolly helped nurse her husband back to health and, as he prepared for another Afghan posting, she said they had discussed his wishes in the event that he did not make it back.
The soldier died after getting a blow to the head at a NAAFI bar in Paderborn, Germany, where he was training.
In his will, Mrs McComiskie was named as executor and Mrs Connolly as beneficiary.
The widow’s mother, Laura Hoggan has called for an end for the dispute.
Speaking last night, after spending a year watching her daughter’s pain, she said: ‘We just want peace, we’re tired now, everybody is tired now. Enough is enough.
‘We just want this nightmare to be over. We want Mark laid to rest, some place that Stacy can go to spend time with him and be at peace, and know that he is at peace. It’s heart-wrenching.’
Mrs Mccomiskie said she was too upset to comment.
Previously, Mrs Connolly went to the Court of Session to appeal against a decision made by the Ministry of Defence to return her husband’s body to Mrs Mccomiskie. But judge Lord Brodie dismissed the claim, saying it was not for the court to decide.
A Ministry of Defence spokes woman confirmed that the soldier’s body remains with undertakers and will be released upon legal instructions.
She said a soldier had been charged with manslaughter in connection with Private Connolly’s death and a court martial will be held in July.