Soldier found dead in bathroom at Catterick Garrison

Lance Corporal Ryan MacKenzie died at 3.10pm on August 23 this year after he was found unresponsive in a bathroom at his army accommodation in the Munster Barracks.

Jonathan Heath, senior coroner for York and North Yorkshire, said the cause of death was pressure on the neck caused by hanging, when he opened an inquest into the death in Northallerton today.

He adjourned the inquest and said a date for the next hearing will be set “in due course”.

The coroner also opened the inquest into the death of Carlton Husband, who sustained a gunshot wound to the chest in the North Yorkshire village of Kirby Grindalythe on September 3.

The 51-year-old was found dead next to a parked car at around 5.20pm. The inquest has been adjourned and a date for the next hearing is due to be set in the coming weeks.

Earlier this year, The British Army was criticised after the decomposing body of Lance Corporal Bernard Mongan lay undiscovered in his room at Catterick Garrison for three weeks.

The 33-year-old was in the Royal Corps of Signals, who had previously served in Iraq, was due to transfer to a base in Berkshire in January 2020, after spending his Christmas leave in his room, and he should have been listed as absent without leave (AWOL) when he did not report for duty.

Army's Service Inquiry Report states the soldier had been suffering with severe mental health issues and had previously “made an attempt on his own life”, but his complaints about bullying had not been properly investigated or passed on and two soldiers had allegedly attacked him in Catterick in November 2018.

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