Soldier was ‘degraded’ by superior officers before being found dead in barracks

A British soldier was ‘humiliated’ and ‘degraded’ by superior officers before he was found dead in his barracks, an inquest has heard.

Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan’s decomposing body was found in his bedroom at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, on January 23, 2020 – three weeks after he was last seen.

An inquest at North Yorkshire Coroner’s Court has heard his cause of death is still ‘unascertained’ as decomposition made it difficult for doctors to determine.

One of L/Cpl Mongan’s friends, former corporal Stephen Timmerman, told the hearing his friend ‘wasn’t treated the same’ as other soldiers in their squadron.

He told the hearing: ‘They spoke to Bernie as if he was inconsequential,’ adding that he had been spoken to ‘like a piece of shit’ and ‘degraded’.

Mr Timmerman described L/Cpl Mongan, 33, as a ‘cuddly teddy bear’ who may have been a ‘soft target’ because he was ‘a nice guy who took things easier’.

He told the inquest L/Cpl Mongan had issues with two sergeants and was ‘undermined’ and ‘come down on very harshly’, saying he had been considering a service complaint.

Asked if he was bullied, Mr Timmerman said: ‘I would say that was an understatement.’

He said: ‘He was given tasks that he shouldn’t have been given, and just the general way he was spoken to by higher ranks.

‘His seniors, quite a few times, he would be left to do their work for them in his own time.’

Mr Timmerman said he could remember three occasions when L/Cpl Mongan was given a military Land Rover to clean that was not his.

He said that on a military exercise around three months before his death, L/Cpl Mongan was ‘shouted and screamed at’ in front of other soldiers by his own superior officers in his own department for carrying out an order from another department.

Mr Timmerman, who has since retired from the Army, said: ‘It was very aggressive, very abrupt, some swearing … It was very harsh language and it wasn’t his fault, he was carrying out an order he was told to do.’

Asked if he was aware one officer ‘had been posting videos on a WhatsApp group of humiliations of Bernie’, Mr Timmerman said: ‘I didn’t know about that.’

The hearing was told L/Cpl Mongan had separated from his wife and spent Christmas at another soldier’s house.

L/Cpl Mongan had tried to kill himself several times and spent time at a recovery centre run by Help For Heroes, the court heard.

Former Royal Marine Jules Burnard, who struck up a friendship with him when they met at the facility, said he had last seen L/Cpl Mongan on January 1, 2020, and that he had been ‘very positive’ and looking forward to the detachment.

Mr Burnard said L/Cpl Mongan had opened up to him about being bullied, and how that had affected his mental health.

He told the hearing: ‘He was a loveable, likeable, upbeat person. There was nothing not to like about Bernie.’

The inquest, which is scheduled to last for three weeks, continues.

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