A Scottish veteran is claimed to have taken his own life after being traumatised by his best friend's murder.
An inquest into the death of Lance Corporal Ryan MacKenzie heard the claims after the 30-year-old was found dead in his barracks.
Both serving in Afghanistan's Helmand Province and Ryan was said to have been devastated when his best friend, Scott McLaren, 20, was killed there in 2012.
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The Daily Record reports that Scott, from Edinburgh, had been grabbed by the enemy after he had wandered away from a checkpoint while serving with D Company, 4 Scots regiment.
At the time of his death, the Ministry of Defence stated that Scott had not been tortured.
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However, an inquest into Lance Corporal MacKenzie's death found that he had told family his best friend had been "hanged from a tree and skinned."
His commanding officer Lt Col Alistair Aitken added that Scott McLaren’s death “had a big impact on everyone” serving there at the time.
It was the first of two tours Ryan, of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, completed for Operation Herrick between 2013 to 2014. His unit, 4 Scots Highlanders, then returned to Catterick base.
The inquest heard, 30-year-old Ryan, a PT instructor,was “fit and healthy ” but had mental health issues.
