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Family Snapshot

A former service sergeant has been given half a year in jail for committing sexual assault against a young gunner who subsequently died by suicide.

Warrant Officer the former sergeant, 43, held down Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck and tried to kiss her in the summer of 2021. She was located without signs of life five months later in her military accommodation at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

Webber, who was sentenced at the legal proceedings in the Wiltshire region earlier, will be sent to a correctional facility and on the sex offenders register for multiple years.

The family matriarch Leighann Mcready remarked: "His actions, and how the Army did not safeguard our daughter afterwards, resulted in her suicide."

Army Statement

The armed forces acknowledged it failed to hear the servicewoman, who was a native of Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she reported the assault and has expressed regret for its handling of her report.

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

Ms McCready commented her child ought to have been present with her relatives in court today, "to observe the individual she reported brought to justice for the assault."

"Instead, we appear without her, facing perpetual grief that no family should be forced to endure," she continued.

"She adhered to protocols, but the accountable parties didn't follow theirs. These shortcomings destroyed our daughter utterly."

PA

Judicial Process

The court was told that the incident happened during an military training at the training location, near Hampshire's Emsworth, in summer 2021.

The sergeant, a senior officer at the time, attempted physical intimacy towards the soldier following an alcohol consumption while on duty for a field training.

The servicewoman testified the sergeant said he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be in private" before taking hold of her, holding her against her will, and attempting to force intimacy.

She filed a complaint against Webber following the assault, despite attempts by military leadership to discourage her.

A formal investigation into her suicide found the armed forces' response of the allegations played "more than a minimal role in her demise."

Parent's Account

In a account presented to the judicial body previously, Ms McCready, expressed: "The young woman had just turned 19 and will forever remain a teenager full of life and laughter."

"She believed authorities to safeguard her and after what he did, the confidence was lost. She was extremely troubled and terrified of the accused."

"I observed the change before my own eyes. She felt helpless and deceived. That incident shattered her confidence in the set-up that was intended to safeguard her."

Sentencing Remarks

While delivering judgment, The judicial officer the magistrate remarked: "We need to assess whether it can be addressed in a different manner. We do not consider it can."

"We are satisfied the gravity of the violation means it can only be dealt with by prison time."

He spoke to the convicted individual: "The servicewoman had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and directed you to leave the area, but you continued to the point she considered she wouldn't be safe from you even if she returned to her assigned barracks."

He continued: "The subsequent morning, she reported the incident to her relatives, her friends and her chain of command."

"Subsequent to the allegations, the command decided to address your behavior with light disciplinary measures."

"You were interviewed and you admitted your conduct had been unacceptable. You prepared a written apology."

"Your military service continued completely unaffected and you were in due course advanced to higher rank."

Further Details

At the formal inquiry into Gunner Beck's death, the coroner said a commanding officer influenced her to cease proceedings, and only reported it to a superior officers "after information had leaked."

At the period, Webber was given a "minimal consequence discussion" with no additional penalties.

The inquest was additionally informed that only a short time after the violation the servicewoman had further been subjected to "relentless harassment" by a separate individual.

Another soldier, her superior officer, transmitted to her more than 4,600 SMS communications confessing his feelings for her, accompanied by a multi-page "personal account" outlining his "fantasies about her."

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Institutional Response

The armed forces said it extended its "sincerest condolences" to the soldier and her loved ones.

"We remain profoundly sorry for the shortcomings that were identified at the official inquiry in February."

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