Family feud delays hero Mark’s funeral for nearly three years

Dispute between wife and mother of Black Watch soldier.

A bitter family feud means a hero soldier is still waiting to be buried nearly three years after his death, it has been revealed.

Private Mark Connolly survived a Taliban bomb blast only to be killed in a German bar brawl in May 2011.

The Black Watch soldier, from Methil in Fife, was just 24 when he died as a result of a freak single punch during a drunken fight with a fellow soldier on a night out.

Two years earlier, during a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Mark had escaped with only burns and serious arm injuries following a bomb blast that killed a colleague.

Following his death in Germany, instead of being repatriated to his native Scotland and laid to rest, a legal wrangle between his widow and his mother over where he should be buried has delayed any funeral.

His body remains in a London morgue.

The warring family are now set to head to court for a second time to resolve the issue.

Last night, Mark’s wife Stacy, who lives in Angus, branded the lack of a breakthrough “frustrating”.

She said: “Nothing has changed and I am still waiting on the courts to decide. I can’t do anything with Mark until then. This has been very frustrating.

“I always hope there will be a resolution but his mum isn’t going to back down so the court is the only way forward.”

Pte Connolly, originally from Methil, Fife, died following a brawl with fellow Black Watch soldier Pte Paul McKay, 25, at the end of a military driving course.

A court martial which cleared Pte McKay of manslaughter heard Pte Connolly had become angry when his wallet and phone were thrown to the ground.

Pte McKay, a father-of-one, claimed his colleague had thrown a punch at him that missed and he defended himself with a single blow.

Prosecutors said the soldier left the bar “not stopping to see if his friend was injured” and he was asleep in bed when military police arrived to arrest him.

Tragically, the single punch caused a fatal bleed in Pte Connolly’s brain.

Following his death his mum, Linda McComiskie, claimed his wife had attempted to organise a funeral without notifying the rest of the family.

The service was cancelled after the MoD insisted Pte Connolly’s body be returned to his mother because she was named executor in her son’s will.

But Mrs Connolly, who is a named beneficiary, appealed for a judicial review at the Court of Session, claiming the MoD should not release her husband’s body to Mrs McComiskie.

In her legal papers she said Pte Connolly had wanted to be buried wherever they settled as a couple.

Mrs Connolly, 29, wants her husband laid to rest in Forfar, but the soldier’s mother wants him buried alongside his grandfather in Methil.

However, in a written judgement Lord Brodie dismissed the widow’s case, saying it was “incompetent”.

Now the bitter dispute is heading back to Forfar Sheriff Court for a decision on who should bury Pte Connolly.

A spokeswoman for the MoD said: “The outcome of any court proceedings will determine who his body is released to.”

Pte Connolly’s mum Linda could not be contacted for comment, but speaking in 2012 said she was “distraught” at not being able to bring closure to their loss.