🔗 Share this article

Family Photo

A former service sergeant has been given 180 days in prison for attacking a 19-year-old soldier who later died by suicide.

Warrant Officer the former sergeant, in his forties, held down Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck and tried to kiss her in mid-2021. She was discovered deceased half a year following in her barracks at the Wiltshire base.

Webber, who was given his punishment at the legal proceedings in the Wiltshire region earlier, will be sent to a public jail and on the offender database for multiple years.

The family matriarch Leighann Mcready remarked: "His actions, and how the military did not safeguard our child afterwards, led to her death."

Official Reaction

The military leadership stated it did not listen to the soldier, who was originally from Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she filed the complaint and has expressed regret for its management of her complaint.

Subsequent to an inquest into the soldier's suicide, Webber admitted to the offense of unwanted sexual advance in the autumn.

Ms McCready stated her daughter ought to have been sitting with her loved ones in legal proceedings today, "to witness the person she accused held accountable for the assault."

"Rather, we stand here in her absence, living a life sentence that no relatives should ever have to face," she continued.

"She complied with procedures, but the individuals in charge failed in their duties. Those failures broke our young woman utterly."

PA

Judicial Process

The court was told that the assault took place during an field exercise at the training location, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in summer 2021.

Webber, a Sergeant Major at the moment, made a sexual advance towards Gunner Beck following an evening of drinking while on duty for a field training.

The servicewoman testified the sergeant stated he had been "waiting for a moment for them to be in private" before taking hold of her, pinning her down, and trying to kiss her.

She reported the incident against the sergeant following the incident, despite attempts by superiors to persuade her not to.

A formal investigation into her passing found the armed forces' response of the complaint played "a significant contributing factor in her demise."

Family Statement

In a statement presented to the judicial body previously, the mother, stated: "Our daughter had recently celebrated a teenager and will forever remain a young person full of vitality and joy."

"She trusted individuals to safeguard her and after what he did, the trust was lost. She was extremely troubled and scared of the accused."

"I observed the difference firsthand. She felt helpless and deceived. That incident destroyed her confidence in the set-up that was meant to look after her."

Sentencing Remarks

While delivering judgment, The presiding judge the magistrate remarked: "We have to consider whether it can be handled in a different manner. We do not consider it can."

"We have determined the seriousness of the crime means it can only be resolved by immediate custody."

He addressed the defendant: "The victim had the strength and intelligence to demand you halt and directed you to go to bed, but you continued to the point she believed she wouldn't be safe from you even when she returned to her own accommodation."

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

"Following the report, the unit opted to address your behavior with light disciplinary measures."

"You were interviewed and you accepted your conduct had been unacceptable. You composed a letter of apology."

"Your military service advanced completely unaffected and you were in due course promoted to senior position."

Further Details

At the inquest into the tragic passing, the investigating officer said Capt James Hook pressured her to drop the allegations, and merely disclosed it to a superior officers "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the time, the sergeant was given a "minimal consequence discussion" with no additional penalties.

The inquiry was also told that just weeks after the violation the soldier had further been subjected to "relentless harassment" by a separate individual.

Another soldier, her superior officer, sent her numerous digital communications confessing his feelings for her, along with a 15-page "romantic narrative" detailing his "fantasies about her."

Family archive

Official Statement

The military leadership said it extended its "heartfelt apologies" to the soldier and her family.

"We continue to be deeply apologetic for the shortcomings that were identified at the official inquiry in winter."

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