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Family Snapshot

An ex- military sergeant has been given six months in jail for committing sexual assault against a teenage servicewoman who afterwards took her own life.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber, forty-three, held down Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck and tried to make physical contact in July 2021. She was discovered deceased five months later in her quarters at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

The defendant, who was given his punishment at the military court in the Wiltshire region previously, will be placed in a public jail and on the sex offenders register for a seven-year period.

The family matriarch the mother stated: "His actions, and how the military failed to protect our daughter subsequently, cost Jaysley her life."

Official Reaction

The armed forces said it did not listen to Gunner Beck, who was a native of Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she disclosed the incident and has expressed regret for its handling of her allegations.

After an investigation of Gunner Beck's death, the defendant confessed to the offense of unwanted sexual advance in the autumn.

The mother said her child should have been present with her loved ones in court now, "to see the man she accused brought to justice for his actions."

"Rather, we stand here without her, facing perpetual grief that no loved ones should ever experience," she stated further.

"She followed the rules, but the individuals in charge neglected their responsibilities. Those failures destroyed our daughter completely."

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Judicial Process

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

Webber, a ranking soldier at the period, made a sexual advance towards the soldier after an alcohol consumption while on deployment for a field training.

Gunner Beck claimed Webber said he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be alone" before grabbing her leg, restraining her, and trying to kiss her.

She reported the incident against the sergeant following the incident, regardless of pressure by military leadership to discourage her.

An inquest into her suicide found the armed forces' response of the report played "an important contributing factor in her demise."

Mother's Testimony

In a account read out to the court earlier, Ms McCready, stated: "She had only become nineteen and will always be a youth full of life and laughter."

"She believed individuals to defend her and after what he did, the trust was shattered. She was extremely troubled and terrified of the sergeant."

"I saw the change personally. She felt powerless and betrayed. That assault broke her confidence in the structure that was intended to safeguard her."

Sentencing Remarks

During sentencing, Judge Advocate General the judge said: "We need to assess whether it can be handled in another way. We do not believe it can."

"We conclude the gravity of the crime means it can only be resolved by incarceration."

He told the convicted individual: "The servicewoman had the bravery and wisdom to instruct you to cease and directed you to retire for the night, but you carried on to the degree she believed she could not feel secure from you even when she returned to her personal quarters."

He added: "The following day, she disclosed the assault to her relatives, her companions and her commanding officers."

"Subsequent to the allegations, the military unit decided to deal with you with minimal consequences."

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

"Your career continued without interruption and you were subsequently promoted to senior position."

Background Information

At the formal inquiry into the tragic passing, the coroner said a commanding officer pressured her to drop the allegations, and only reported it to a military leadership "after information had leaked."

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

The investigation was also told that only a short time after the incident the servicewoman had also been facing "relentless harassment" by a separate individual.

Another soldier, her commanding individual, transmitted to her numerous text messages declaring attachments for her, accompanied by a fifteen-page "love story" describing his "imagined scenarios."

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Official Statement

The military leadership stated it extended its "sincerest condolences" to the servicewoman and her family.

"We will always be deeply apologetic for the shortcomings that were noted at the official inquiry in early this year."

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