Soldier who was 'never the same' after Afghanistan tour took his own life at Catterick Garrison
Lance Corporal Ryan Mackenzie, 30, was found hanged at his army accommodation in the Munster Barracks, on August 23 last year.
An inquest held in Northallerton today heard the soldier, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, expressed suicidal thoughts several months before his death and was finding it extremley difficult to be away from his family in Scotland while his daughter was dealing with a chronic illness.
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Hide AdHe was staying with his grandmother Margaret Allison in Glasgow, after senior officers in his unit became concerned about his mental health and granted him sick leave.
She said he went back to Catterick Garrison on August 5 and last spoke to his family on August 18, but Army officers said they did not realise he had returned to the base until his body was found.
Angela Mackenzie said her nephew “absolutely loved” life in the military, after he joined The Royal Regiment of Scotland at the age of 18, but he witnessed “many atrocities” during his first tour of Afghanistan in 2011.
“His pal got shot beside him. His best friend was hung from a tree and skinned. These are only some of the things that Ryan told me about,” she said.
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Hide Ad“Ryan was never the same after this tour and went into himself. He could no longer deal with loud noises and became very highly strung; screaming at night in his sleep.”
Ms Mackenzie said her nephew was shot during his second tour and narrowly avoided a bomb blast, but when he returned in 2014 he became a father.
However, she said his mental health “deteriorated considerably” after he split up with his wife and was granted limited contact with his daughter, and he attempted suicide “on a few occasions”.
She added: “Ryan didn't want to go back to Catterick. It was killing him being down there. He would drink and take drugs to numb the pain to stop the night terrors.”
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Hide AdHis grandmother, who took him in as a child after he was cast out by his mother, said he did not want to go back to the army in the summer of 2021 and had talked about going absent without official leave (AWOL).
“Ryan's mental health had gotten worse when he came to stay with me whilst on leave, he would wake up at night screaming and calling out for me,” she said.
“I would go in to speak with him to tell me that he was hearing horrible voices in his head, telling him to do things and would get flashbacks of his friends being shot or mutilated.”
When Lance Corporal Mackenzie expressed suicidal thoughts in May 2021, seniors officers in his regiment held a formal review to dicuss what action should be taken.
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Hide AdThey found he was struggling with anxiety, depression and loneliness in Catterick, and he was “desperate” to return to Scotland to be with his grandmother and daughter.
The inquest was also told Lance Corporal Mackenzie’s ex-wife made it very difficult for him to see his daughter and spend time with her.
The soldier was granted sick leave and allowed to return to Scotland, but he remained in regular contact with a doctor and Captain Phil Ingram, the unit’s welfare officer, and was told his case would be reviewed every 28 days.
He was due to return to Catterick in July, to face a disciplinary hearing after he was accused of stealing boots, but the hearing was postponed after someone claiming to be his ex-wife lied to him and claimed that his daughter had died in hospital.
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Hide AdCaptain Ingram, who had known Lance Corporal Mackenzie for over 10 years, said he had not expressed anymore suicidal thoughts while on sick leave and his death came as a surprise.
He was found hanged at the barracks on August 23 and a post-mortem examination found he was almost three times over the legal drink drive limit when he took his life and there was “advanced decomposition”, which suggests his body had not been found for some time.
At the inquest, assistant coroner Jonathan Leach ruled the death was a suicide.