The mother of a Fife soldier has spoken of her heartache after ending a legal challenge to have her son buried in her family plot.
Black Watch Private Mark Connolly’s body has lain in a London morgue since 2011 when he was killed in a German bar fight.
Since then his mother Linda McComiskie, 51, has been involved in a bitter legal feud with Mark’s widow, Stacy, over where the 24-year-old should be buried.
Mrs McComiskie has always insisted that her son wished to be buried in the family lair at MacDuff Cemetery in East Wemyss, despite claim’s by Mrs Connolly he wanted to be laid to rest at a plot earmarked for her in Forfar.
Earlier this year, following a civil court proof at Forfar, a sheriff ruled in Mrs Connolly’s favour, a judgment challenged by Mrs McComiskie.
However, that challenge has now been dropped due to a lack of funding, with Pte Connolly now almost certainly to be laid to rest in Angus.
Mrs McComiskie said: “All my money and legal aid has gone. This is the moment I have been dreading for three years. I’m heartbroken.
“It feels like I’ve lost Mark twice. There is no justice.”
Pte Connolly died from a freak punch in a fight with a fellow squaddie at his Paderborn base in Germany in May 2011.
Pte Paul McKay was cleared of manslaughter when a court martial ruled that he had acted in self-defence.
The body of Pte Connolly, who survived shrapnel injuries in an Afghanistan bomb attack during his career, has remained in London throughout the legal disputes between his widow and mother, who is the executor of his estate.
Mrs McComiskie added: “Letting go is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Mark may be buried where Stacy wants but he won’t be there. In my heart I know his spirit will always be here, with his family.
“At least he’s finally getting laid to rest. We still have our memories of Mark and no legal battle can take those away.”
The Courier attempted to speak to Mrs Connolly at both her home and through her solicitor but she could not be contacted.