🔗 Share this article

Family Snapshot

A former Army sergeant major has been ordered to serve six months in prison for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old soldier who afterwards ended her life.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber, forty-three, held down Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck and sought to make physical contact in the summer of 2021. She was located without signs of life half a year following in her barracks at Larkhill military installation.

The convicted individual, who was judged at the Court Martial Centre in the Wiltshire region recently, will be sent to a public jail and listed on offender database for seven years.

The family matriarch Leighann Mcready remarked: "The assault, and how the armed forces neglected to defend our young woman subsequently, cost Jaysley her life."

Army Statement

The armed forces stated it did not listen to the servicewoman, who was hailing from Oxen Park in Cumbria, when she filed the complaint and has expressed regret for its management of her allegations.

After a formal inquiry regarding the soldier's suicide, the accused admitted to a single charge of unwanted sexual advance in last fall.

The grieving parent commented her young woman should have been alongside her loved ones in the courtroom today, "to witness the man she reported held accountable for his actions."

"Conversely, we are present missing her, living a life sentence that no loved ones should ever have to face," she added.

"She followed the rules, but those responsible failed in their duties. Those failures shattered our child completely."

News Agency

Legal Hearing

The judicial body was informed that the assault occurred during an military training at the training location, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in mid-2021.

The accused, a Sergeant Major at the moment, made a sexual advance towards the soldier following an social gathering while on deployment for a military exercise.

The servicewoman stated Webber remarked he had been "waiting for a moment for them to be in private" before grabbing her leg, holding her against her will, and trying to kiss her.

She made official allegations against Webber subsequent to the assault, regardless of pressure by commanding officers to persuade her not to.

An official inquiry into her passing found the armed forces' response of the report played "more than a minimal contributing factor in her suicide."

Parent's Account

In a testimony shared to the court previously, Ms McCready, stated: "Our daughter had just turned nineteen and will forever remain a teenager full of energy and happiness."

"She had faith people to protect her and following the assault, the trust was lost. She was extremely troubled and scared of the sergeant."

"I observed the change before my own eyes. She felt powerless and betrayed. That assault destroyed her faith in the system that was supposed to look after her."

Court Ruling

When announcing the verdict, The judicial officer the magistrate said: "We need to assess whether it can be dealt with in a different manner. We do not consider it can."

"We are satisfied the gravity of the offence means it can only be resolved by prison time."

He spoke to the defendant: "The servicewoman had the bravery and wisdom to demand you halt and instructed you to go to bed, but you persisted to the extent she considered she wouldn't be safe from you even if she returned to her own accommodation."

He added: "The next morning, she made the complaint to her family, her companions and her chain of command."

"After the complaint, the unit decided to deal with you with light disciplinary measures."

"You were subject to inquiry and you accepted your conduct had been improper. You wrote a apology note."

"Your military service advanced unimpeded and you were subsequently advanced to senior position."

Background Information

At the investigation into Gunner Beck's death, the coroner said military leadership pressured her to withdraw the complaint, and merely disclosed it to a higher command "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the period, the accused was given a "minor administrative action interview" with no further consequences.

The investigation was further advised that just weeks after the violation the servicewoman had further been facing "persistent mistreatment" by a separate individual.

A separate service member, her commanding individual, directed toward her more than 4,600 text messages declaring attachments for her, accompanied by a 15-page "romantic narrative" detailing his "fantasies about her."

Family archive

Official Statement

The military leadership said it provided its "deepest sympathies" to the servicewoman and her relatives.

"We continue to be sincerely regretful for the shortcomings that were discovered at the formal investigation in February."

"{The end of|The conclusion of|The completion