Royal Welsh soldier Lance Corporal Bryn Jenkins inquest opened

A serving Welsh soldier was found dead in the garage of his Cardiff home while on leave from the British Army, an inquest has heard.

Lance Corporal Bryn Jenkins, a 24-year-old serving member of Delta (Fire Support) Company based at Lucknow Barracks, Tidworth, died on Sunday, December 7. An inquest into his death was opened by South Wales Central assistant coroner Kerrie Burge at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, December 16.

The inquest heard that LCpl Jenkins was discovered in the garage at an address in Greenwich Road, Cardiff. His body was identified by a friend and later taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff to undergo a post mortem examination on December 10.

A provisional cause of death was given as: “1A: pressure on the neck consistent with hanging.”

Following news of his death, tributes flooded in for a “highly capable soldier”. A touching tribute shared by The Royal Welsh said that LCpl Jenkins was an “adventurous, thoughtful soul” who provided “endless humour”.

A post from the British Army regiment said: “It is with great sadness that we inform the Regimental family of the passing of Lance Corporal Bryn Jenkins, Delta Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh. A highly capable soldier and a key figure within the Reconnaissance Platoon, Bryn was a qualified sniper and a talented warrior driver, affectionately earning the title ‘Bryn Diesel’ among his peers.”

LCpl Jenkins’s former Platoon Commander Captain Ed Wills-Wood said: “He was a large part of why my two years with the Platoon were easily the most enjoyable of my career. I watched him go from strength to strength, qualifying as a sniper, taking on greater responsibility as a junior leader and having a positive impact on all of those around him. I will always think fondly of our time together from Germany to Poland and his constant drive to improve and develop. Such was his character that he was a well-known figure throughout the Battalion, and his loss will leave an unfillable hole. Bryn was exactly the kind of Welshman I had hoped to work with on joining the Regiment. I will miss him dearly and remember him always.”

Assistant coroner Miss Burge offered her condolences to LCpl Jenkins’s family and adjourned the inquest to a later date to be fixed.