Two Army officers to face court martial over Jaysley Beck sex assault case
The 19-year-old took her own life in her barracks at Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire, after her allegations of sexual assault against a former sergeant were not taken seriously.
Two Army officers have been charged over their conduct in the case of Gunner Jaysley Beck, who was sexually assaulted and then took her own life.
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It is understood Major James Hook and Colonel Samantha Shepherd will face a court martial over their actions relating to the 19-year-old, who was found hanged in her barracks in Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire, in 2021.
An inquest into Gunner Beck's death later found that the incident and the Army's failure to take appropriate action "more than minimally" contributed to her death.
Former senior non-commissioned officer, 43-year-old Michael Webber, was jailed for six months by a military court last year after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting Gunner Beck five months before her death.
Then a battery sergeant major in the Royal Artillery, Webber had engaged Gunner Beck in a drinking game before touching her thigh and trying to kiss her.
The court heard Gunner Beck pushed Webber away before hiding in the toilets, standing on top of a toilet seat so Webber would not see where she was.
She then spent the night locked in her car before making a complaint to her superiors in the morning.
However, the incident was not reported to police and Webber was dealt with by a minor administrative action – involving him being interviewed and writing Gunner Beck a letter of apology. He was later promoted.
During her inquest, it emerged Gunner Beck had also received thousands of messages from another senior colleague, Bombardier Ryan Mason, her line manager.
Wiltshire Police investigated a complaint of harassment submitted by Gunner Beck’s family after her death, relating to Mr Mason’s behaviour, but found the evidence did not support a criminal harassment case.
Read more: Ex-sergeant major admits sexually assaulting teenage soldier who took her own life
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said on Friday: "Following an investigation by the Defence Serious Crime Command, we can confirm two individuals have been charged with offences under Section 19, Armed Forces Act (conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline).
"It would be inappropriate to comment further as legal proceedings are ongoing."
Since Gunner Beck's death, the Ministry of Defence has set up a serious crime command and launched a violence against women and girls taskforce, and more recently has agreed in principle to remove the handling of serious complaints from the individual services.
'Horrendous failing of the system'
Al Carns, minister for the armed forces, said last year: "I think the Gunner Beck case was a horrendous failing of the system.
"What I can tell you is in the last several years there's been lots of changes - in the last year we've really made a proactive move to create the correct systems so no woman ever feels alone again in defence."
'Completely exhausting'
Gunner Beck's mother, Leighann McCready, said that after the inquest her family wrote to the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker, with their concerns about "multiple Army failings in the chain of command" that led to Gunner Beck's death.
"As a consequence of that, he directed that our concerns be referred to the service police and we are relieved finally to have reached this stage today where two individuals have been charged," Ms McCready, from Cumbria, said.
"It wouldn't be appropriate to comment further on the latest court cases until they are over.
"But we can say we remain very unhappy with other parts of the Army's response.
"We were promised a new independent complaints process for service people - especially young women like Jaysley who often have to deal with very difficult and challenging situations - we have heard nothing further about this and as far as we can tell, young women are still not benefiting from it, almost a year on from the inquest and more than four years on from Jaysley's death.
"We feel constantly as though we have to push the Army to change and it is completely exhausting."
The inquest last year in Salisbury, Wiltshire, heard that Gunner Beck had spoken with Maj Hook, who had organised the training event at Thorney Island, the day after she had been assaulted by Webber.
In his summing up of the evidence, assistant coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said: "He asked Jaysley what outcome she wanted, and she said that she did not want anything bad to happen to Webber. She did not want anything to harm his career.
"In his evidence to the inquest, Maj Hook said that he could not reconcile the complaint that Jaysley was making with her wish that no action should be taken against Webber.
"He was of the view that Jaysley did not want to be on the course.
"In support of this view, he cited the fact that on the previous day she had volunteered to take a participant back to camp for welfare reasons and the fact that she was now seeking to leave the exercise.
"He made Jaysley aware of the career ramifications to Webber if she made a complaint.
"He pointed out to her the fact that there were no witnesses to the incident.
"He suspected, he said, that the allegation of an assault was an excuse to enable Jaysley to avoid completing the course.
"When asked to come off the course, Jaysley in a contemporaneous WhatsApp message recorded that Maj Hook had pointed out that the course cost money, she was in the British Army and she was paid to do the course.
"It is hardly surprising that subsequently Jaysley told friends that Maj Hook had accused her of lying."
In his evidence to the service inquiry, Maj Hook said: "I was conscious of the fact initially that was this something that she was generating for an excuse to get away from Thorney Island and away from the training which she'd already made perfectly clear to me that she wasn't enjoying and didn't really want to be a part of."
The coroner added: "At the very least Maj Hook at the time of the service inquiry knew of the fact that Webber had admitted improper conduct towards Jaysley, making it strange that even then he was implying deception on Jaysley's behalf.
"Instead of investigating Jaysley's complaint further, Maj Hook, having emphasised the effect that the complaint would have on Webber's career, and having stressed the fact that there were no witnesses, told Jaysley to mull the matter over before deciding what action to take.
"Maj Hook had left it with Jaysley to make a decision as to how to proceed and had then gone out to continue the activities.
"On the balance of probabilities I determine that Maj Hook informed no-one of Jaysley's allegations until the cat was out of the bag, as it were."
Last year in court, victim personal statements written by Leighann McCready, father Anthony Beck, and sister Emilli Beck were read out.
Ms McCready described how she received a phone call from her “very upset” daughter following the incident, who had been “very scared” by Webber.
"My bright, confident daughter became quiet and withdrawn,” she said.
She described how Gunner Beck felt powerless by how Webber was dealt with, later discovering he had been promoted to Warrant Officer Class 1 rank – telling her “I got a letter, he got a promotion”.
"The assault shattered her faith in the system that was supposed to look after her,” Ms McCready said.
"I truly believe that what he did and how it was handled broke something inside her that she couldn’t repair.”
Mr Beck told how Webber was a man of large build in a position of authority who had assaulted his daughter, who had just turned 19.
Miss Beck described herself as “repulsed” at Webber’s actions, adding “a man who was old enough to be her father had taken advantage of her”.
The court heard Webber, who is divorced with an estranged teenage daughter, served in the Army for 22 years and 128 days before leaving in August this year. He now works as a lorry driver.