THE loss of a piece of equipment by a Royal Marine recruit led him to take his own life on a railway line, a coroner concluded today.

Philip Spinney, senior coroner for Devon, Plymouth & Torbay, criticised failures in the mental healthcare of 18-year-old Connor Clark, who used a duvet to scale a razor wire fence at the commando training centre in Lympstone before being struck by a train in June 2021.

The teenager had made comments about being called a “failure” and the “worst recruit,” and was worried about losing weekend leave for misplacing the blank firing adaptor for his weapon.

He was also treated for self-harm wounds two days before his death.

Mr Spinney said there was evidence Mr Clark had been looking for the piece of equipment as he was due to have an inspection on the day he died.

In his findings, Mr Spinney said Mr Clark had become “overwhelmed with the situation” and had left the camp and ended his life.

“I conclude that Connor losing his blank firing attachment probably contributed more than minimally to the cause of his death,” he said.

Mr Spinney said Mr Clark had died from multiple severe injuries as he recorded a conclusion of suicide.

The teenager, from Norfolk, was three weeks into a four-week recruit orientation phase course and had “struggled” with organising his kit and had failed inspections.

Fellow recruits said he had suffered more “thrashings” — a physical punishment for making mistakes — than anyone else.

The five-day inquest in Exeter heard fellow recruits describe a “hostile atmosphere,” with instructors shouting, swearing and handing out group thrashings for collective mistakes.

They described the instructors being “in their face,” shouting and calling them a “f***ing twat, prick or punk” and “c***.”