Soldiers’ fury in death barracks as Army accused of lack of duty of care

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A “pandemic of suicide ” exists at one of the Army’s largest military barracks, according to soldiers inside the base. The disclosure comes after two soldiers at Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire, where the 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 Scots) is based, were found dead within 48 hours of each other last weekend.Nicholas Hart, 33, an Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran with 4 Scots, was found dead in his room.The body of Private Thamir Mbarushimana, 18, was found by railway tracks in Manchester.Up to eight have now died since 2018 at Catterick including Selkirk’s Alistair McLeish, 18, Pte Reece Miller, 29, and Trp Ben Healey, 20.Alistair’s mother Karen told the inquest into his death: “He appeared to love the Army.”Twice as many soldiers are believed to have taken their own lives at the base since 2018 than died in seven years at Deepcut, which was the subject of inquests.The latest deaths led to a series of Whatsapp messages between soldiers.

They were revealed by the wife of a serving soldier who said she was sickened.One message read: “Suicide Pandemic in this camp.

Clearly not enough being done or cries for help falling on deaf ears.” The partner of one soldier said: “The camp is a complete shambles.

There is no duty of care and you can see from the messages that the chain of command just pays lip service to mental health issues. “My husband says many of the younger soldiers sit around on their beds and are bored stiff during the day and get drunk at night.