Inquest told soldier was missing for three weeks before body was found in barracks

The family of a soldier who was missing for three weeks before his decomposing body was found in bed at his barracks said they had been left with “so many questions” about his death.

Father-of-three Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan, 33, was discovered on January 23 2020 in his bedroom at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

An inquest heard L/Cpl Mongan had “obviously been dead for some time” when he was found, and had last been seen around December 27.

The hearing was told that decomposition made it difficult for doctors to determine a cause of death, and it had been recorded in a post-mortem examination report as “unascertained”.

A coroner heard the two most likely causes were considered to be poisoning, after barbiturates were found in L/Cpl’s system, or a sudden abnormality of the heart, but a Home Office pathologist told the inquest he could not say which of these was the most likely.

Dr Nigel Cooper said: “I’ve thought about this long and hard but I just don’t think I can, I don’t think I have enough positive evidence to go in one direction or the other.”

L/Cpl Mongan’s wife Beth Mongan said they had three daughters together and had separated by the time of his death but remained close.

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