A veteran found hanged in his barracks was traumatised after the Taliban tortured and murdered his best pal, an inquest heard.
Lance Corporal Ryan MacKenzie was devastated when fellow Scottish Highlander Scott McLaren, 20, of Edinburgh, was killed in Helmand Province in 2012.
Scott was grabbed after wandering off from a checkpoint while serving with D Company, 4 Scots regiment.
The Ministry of Defence had denied Afghan claims Scott was tortured.
But Lance Corporal MacKenzie “told his family his best friend had been hanged from a tree and skinned”, an inquest heard.
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.
