Soldier found hanged at NI barracks had dreamed of army career since childhood, inquest hears

However, in the months before his death, she noticed changes in him, becoming more quiet, withdrawn and avoiding eye contact with her.

Carol Mitchell was speaking as she gave evidence in an inquest into the death of her son, Rifleman Darren Mitchell, 20, from London, on February 10, 2013.

He joined the army in 2010 and served a six-month tour in Afghanistan from October 2011 to May 2012.

“From a very young age Darren was set on joining the British Army,” she told the inquest.

“I have a picture of him aged two dressed in army clothes.

“He always said passing out would be the happiest day of his life.”

After he joined the army, he went on to win two prizes at his passing-out ceremony, including best shot and the soldier’s soldier award.

Mrs Mitchell said he was excited to deploy to Afghanistan and that during a period of home leave in January 2012, he seemed fine.

She said when he returned from completing his tour in Afghanistan in May 2012 he spoke to her about two incidents which were troubling him.

In one, he had been due to be at the front of a patrol of soldiers, but was swapped with another soldier at the last minute.

That soldier at the front was injured in a blast and sustained serious leg injuries.

In the other incident he mentioned, he and other soldiers were given a bag and tasked with collecting body parts on the ground following an explosion. He said they were told it was to ensure they were burying as much of the insurgents as possible.

But, generally, Mrs Mitchell said her son felt he had done well and was excited after getting a job he had applied for as an outdoor activity instructor within the army.

“He was over the moon, it was his dream job, he couldn’t believe they were going to pay him to do it,” she said.

Training for his new job was demanding, requiring her son to take a number of courses across the UK as well as in Germany and Spain, Mrs Mitchell told the inquest.

She said that when he stayed with her during a period of leave in October 2012 she noticed changes in him.

“He seemed very tired,” she said.

“He was clearly struggling to sleep. I remember him saying ‘I am always like this now’.”

She said one night she heard him moving around the house at 2am and went downstairs to offer to make him something to eat or drink, but instead he went for a run.

Mrs Mitchell described him as “hyper vigilant” at that stage and recalled him looking up at a building with lots of windows and commenting, “anything could be going on in there”.

She said he was also jumpy and, while driving with his brother during Diwali, became so startled by fireworks that he had to pull over and walk away.

On another occasion a glass breaking in a pub started him.

“Towards the end of 2012, he seemed more vulnerable, less full of life, defeated,” she told the inquest.

“I think he was probably drinking too much.”