A former British army sergeant major has been sentenced to six months in prison for sexually assaulting Jaysley Beck, a teenage soldier who killed herself after senior officers failed to investigate the attack properly.
Michael Webber, who has left the army, assaulted Gunner Beck during a training exercise in Hampshire in July 2021, when she was 19, the court martial centre in Bulford, Wiltshire, heard.
She reported what had happened to her seniors but the police were not informed and Beck was encouraged to accept a letter of apology from Webber.
Later that year, Beck did not report that another man, her line manager, was bombarding her with texts and voice messages, apparently having lost faith in the complaints procedure, an inquest heard.
Beck, from Cumbria, took her own life in her room at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in December 2021, five months after Webber’s assault.
At the end of Beck’s inquest in February, the coroner, Nicholas Rheinberg, said Beck’s complaint about being sexually assaulted during the exercise should have been reported to the police and the failure to do so breached army policy. He said the army’s failure to take appropriate action “more than minimally” contributed to her death.
On Friday, the court heard that Webber engaged Beck in a drinking game called Last Man Standing before touching her thigh and trying to kiss her.
Beck pushed Webber, then a 39-year-old battery sergeant major, away and she spent the night locked in her car, hiding from him.
Judge Advocate General Alan Large told Webber: “She had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and told you to go to bed, but you persisted to the extent she considered she wouldn’t be safe from you even if she went back to her own accommodation.”
The judge pointed out that Webber was promoted after the assault. “Your career continued completely unaffected,” he said.
In a victim personal statement, Beck’s mother, Leighann McCready, described how she received a phone call from her “very scared” daughter after the assault. She said that when Beck heard Webber had been promoted, she said: “I got a letter, he got a promotion.”
McCready said: “The assault shattered her faith in the system that was supposed to look after her. I truly believe that what he did and how it was handled broke something inside her that she couldn’t repair.”
Outside court, she said: “The army is clearly not a safe space for young women. This is still continuing. They mark their own homework and this has been going on for too many years. Jaysley followed the rules but those responsible didn’t follow theirs.”
Webber served in the army for 22 years before leaving in August. He now works as a lorry driver and receives £1,200 a month from a military pension.
Representing Webber, Matthew Scott said: “He accepts his actions on that night contributed in some way to the tragic outcome when she took her own life.”
After the inquest, the army said it should have done “so much more” to support and protect Beck.
On Friday, the minister for veterans and people, Louise Sandher-Jones, said: “We are honouring Jaysley’s legacy by bringing about crucial reform, to provide a place where people are proud to work and have faith in the service justice system.”
Maj Gen Jon Swift, an assistant chief of the general staff, said: “We are sorry we didn’t listen to Jaysley when she first reported her assault. We are determined to make sure the same mistakes don’t happen again.
“Work is ongoing to make lasting and effective change. Change that will give service personnel the confidence they need to report sexual offences and inappropriate behaviours, knowing that they will be listened to.”
• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
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