'It was really bad'
He put his life on the line for his country as a teenager. He witnessed horrors that 'never left him'.
Following an inquest into Alan's death, recommendations were made to improve the support offered to struggling veterans. They included the way police forces deal with reports of missing veterans and assess their risk. She laughed as she recalled her early memories with him. "He was definitely a character," Claire said. "I think the thing that attracted me to him was actually he sung really, really well. He used to play the guitar and he had quite a melodic voice.
"He witnessed the horrors of ethnic cleansing and it was really bad. It transpired that he was slowly, in hindsight, becoming more and more alcoholic and - it transpired - drug dependant, and that drug addiction spiralled out of control. "Obviously I didn't want my son to grow up in such a dysfunctional environment so I had to make that call. But Alan and I always remained friends, and he was actively involved in Josh's life."
On May 21 that year, Alan was found dead in a County Durham woodland. Claire had previously reported his disappearance to Cleveland Police, informing the force of his mental health issues and status as a veteran, but he was not classed as high-risk. When a veteran is found, they are then given crisis support and referred to 'Operation Nova', a separate team which points them in the right direction for help. GMP says that out of more than 8,000 reports for missing people since last November 11, 42 have been identified as veterans in this way, and all have been found safe.