Families should see contents of report into soldier deaths, coroner rules

The probe into events at Ballykinler barracks in County Down produced 2,000 pages of documents.

Lance Corporal James Ross, 30, from Leeds died in December 2012 and Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, from London two months later.

Coroner Joe McCrisken has decided official information contained in a service inquiry report should be released to their families.

His barrister Sean Doran QC said the coroner had "determined that disclosure of this material should be made to the next of kin".

The victims had both fought in Afghanistan and their families have raised post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) concerns following their deaths.

They served in the Second Battalion the Rifles.

Eight other service personnel self-harmed at the army base in Northern Ireland.

Five are still serving in the army, a legal representative for the MoD has disclosed.

The Department has until next month to disclose the material, barring any appeal to a higher court by those affected, the coroner told a hearing in Belfast.