THE mother of a tragic Scots squaddie claims she has proof the military ignored warning signs her son was suicidal just months before he took his own life.
Aaron Black joined the Black Watch when he was 17 and saw active service in Afghanistan which left him haunted by the deaths of several friends.
The former soldier from Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, killed himself in December 2011, aged 22, just seven months after leaving the army.
Shortly afterwards the government insisted that Aaron was not regarded as “vulnerable” at the time he left the service.
But his mother, June Black, from Rattray, Aberdeenshire, has now obtained his confidential military medical records which show that before leaving the service he “continued to have suicidal thinking”.
The documents also note he had “depressive symptoms and trauma symptoms from Afghanistan” and “is still jumpy with dreams and flashbacks”.
June, 58, claims military chiefs failed in their duty of care towards her son.
Following Aaron’s death, June demanded a Fatal Accident Inquiry.
She received a letter from the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Mark Francois in which he insisted that Aaron was not “classified as a vulnerable service leaver”.
June said: “I obtained Aaron’s confidential military medical records, which painted a bleak picture of a young man desperately in need of a support and assistance after he left The Black Watch.
“The records state Aaron would then be referred to a mental health social worker at RAF Leuchars before he left the army.
“Aaron’s case was never followed up.”
June added: “I say sorry to my son every day.
“His picture is in my living room and I cry. But no one else from the military is saying sorry.
“If he’d got that support in 2011, he could have still been with us today.
“It’s a damned shame.”
Aaron sent a “goodbye” text to his mother before surrounded himself with his treasured possessions, including his army medals, photographs and a crucifix.
