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- Michael Webber attacked Jaysley Beck, who later died at a barracks in Wiltshire
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The mother of a female soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted by a sergeant major has said it 'doesn't feel like justice' after the attacker was jailed for six months.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found hanging in her room at Larkhill Camp, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, on December 15, 2021.
Her death came following a complaint she made against Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, now 43, after he pinned her down and tried to kiss her during a training exercise, an inquest heard in February this year.
He was sentenced to six months in a civilian prison by the Judge Advocate General Alan Large and a military board.
Webber, who was serving at the same base, last month pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault at a pre-trial hearing and was on Friday sentenced at Bulford Military Court in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
But the sentence was not severe enough according to Leighann McCready, Jaysley's mother.
'In lots of ways this really doesn’t feel like justice,' she told the Guardian.
'This is hard to explain, but we should not have had to put up such a fight. It has drained us when we should and could be grieving our daughter.'
The mother said the family were relieved Webber admitted the assault because it spared a trial.
'This is far too little too late given everything that flowed from this.'
She also accused the army of making 'empty promises', adding that changes to how victims were treated were not going ahead quickly enough.
Jaysley's family previously welcomed the guilty plea but said 'nothing can undo the devastating loss of our beautiful daughter'.
Her parents Anthony Beck and Ms McCready were pictured attending court for Friday's sentencing - and Jaysley's mother said afterwards the Army was 'clearly not a safe space for young women'.
Speaking outside court, she said: 'No sentence will ever be enough. While he serves his time, it’s us who will live with a life sentence.'
The parents and their legal team have criticised the military chain of command, saying more should have done to investigate Jaysley's complaints - and both her mother and father made emotional statements to the court.
February's inquest concluded she had taken her own life after she made a complaint against Webber, who was accused of pinning her down, attempting to kiss her and placing his hand between her legs during a work social event.
Jaysley's mother Ms McCready later revealed how she had to plead to see her daughter's accommodation following the death - and when finally given permission, found a heartbreaking letter tucked away in the young recruit's room.
Ms McCready has accused the Army over the circumstances surrounding Jaysley's death - and today delivered an emotional victim impact statement to the court.
Jaysley's mother said: 'She had just turned 19 and she was a teenager full of life and laughter.
'She had lots of plans for the future and she trusted those around her to protect her and after this that had gone.
'She called me the morning after it happened and I could tell something was wrong. She had been very scared of Mr Webber so much so she had taken the decision to lock herself in her car.
'She felt powerless and betrayed. She then found out he had been promoted - "I got a letter and he got a promotion",' she said.
'She told me she had been made to accept a letter of apology. That assault shattered her faith in the system that was supposed to look after her. Since I lost her, my life has turned upside down.'
And Jaysley's father Anthony Beck told the court: 'When Jaysley told me what Michael Webber did, it made me sick - he was twice her age, she trusted him and he took advantage of her trust.
'She became quieter, stopped trusting people and it was awful to see that light go out in her.
'What he did didn't just hurt Jaysley, it tore through our family - every day just feels like I'm getting through the hours.'
Mr Beck, who suffered a heart attack in the months following Jaysley's death, told the court that any sentence for Webber would 'never come close to the life sentence I have without my daughter'.
Matthew Scott, defending Webber, said: 'This is an utterly tragic case and there is nothing I could say that could possibly begin to diminish the extent of the tragedy.
'Nobody outside the family has felt tragedy in this case more than the defendant.
'It is not his fault the army, prosecution or police did not proceed more formally against him.
'He didn't pretend as some may have done, that nothing had happened.
'He didn't hide behind the fact it happened in an empty bar with no other witnesses.'
Mr Scott said that Webber was divorced and no longer sees his 16-year-old daughter - to whom he pays child support.
He now works as a lorry driver and receives a £1,200 military pension. He has an Afghanistan medal, a long service medal, and Jubilee medal.
The judge Mr Large today told the sentencing hearing: 'No sentence which we can pass upon Mr Webber today will bring their daughter back or begin to fill the gap that she has left behind.
'We have to pass a sentence which both reflects the offending and which takes full account of the impact of the criminal behaviour in the case on Gnr Beck and her family.'
He told Webber: 'You were high in the scale of authority. Gnr Beck was at the lower end of the scale. Your behaviour had an effect on morale of those within His Majesty's British Army.
'The level of trust was completely breached to such an extent that she felt she had to sleep in her car.
'An aggravating factor is that alcohol was involved and that played a real part in your decision to kiss Gunner Beck.
'You had no previous convictions and have shown remorse and have had exemplary conduct within your military career. This behaviour was out of character.
'We have to consider whether the sentence can be suspended. We do not consider that it can.
'We are satisfied that the seriousness of the offence means that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.
'We cannot dismiss you because you have already left the Army. However, we consider that had you been dealt with earlier you would have been reduced to the ranks and if we properly do so, we order that you are reduced to the ranks today.'
Webber will serve half his sentence in the community and will be on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.
Speaking outside court following today's sentencing, Ms McCready told reporters: 'The Army is clearly not a safe space for young women - this is still continuing.
'They mark their own homework and this has been going on for too many years. Until real change is made I would say that young women should not join the army.'
She accused military chiefs of having 'protected' Webber's identity 'throughout', adding: 'Jaysley should have been sat in court with us today to see the person she reported held accountable for what he did.
'Instead we stand here without her, living a life sentence that no family should ever have to face.
'What he did, and how the Army failed to protect our daughter afterwards, cost Jaysley her life.
'Jaysley was just 19, a beautiful, bright, confident girl with her whole life ahead of her. She did everything right but was failed by the system that was meant to support and protect her.
'She followed the rules, but those responsible didn’t follow theirs - they failed to act, failed to report, and failed to follow up. Those failures destroyed our daughter completely.
'When another senior male later started harassing her, she said she didn’t want to be known as a troublemaker and didn’t see any point in reporting him.
'They talk about lessons learned, but we’re still waiting to see any real change.
'I stand here as a bereaved mother fighting for real change now, not hollow promises or recycled words that have already failed my daughter and continue to fail others.
'Real action means giving soldiers somewhere truly independent to report serious complaints, without fear or favour.
'The Army cannot keep marking its own homework - until that’s actioned, nothing will ever change.
'Our soldiers deserve a system they can trust, one that protects them, believes them, and values their lives above its own reputation.
'We can’t bring our daughter back, but I’ll keep fighting to make sure her life leads to change that helps and hopefully saves others.'
Major General Jon Swift, Assistant Chief of the General Staff, said outside court: 'To Jaysley-Louise Becks family, we continue to offer our sincerest condolences.
'We will always be profoundly sorry for the failings that were identified at Jaysley’s inquest in February.
'The end of this court martial is another traumatic step in the journey for Jaysley’s family, and we acknowledge that today’s outcome has come too late for their beloved daughter.
'We are sorry we didn't listen to Jaysley when she first reported her assault. We are determined to make sure the same mistakes don't happen again.
'Since Jaysley’s death we have introduced a significant cultural reform programme, alongside the "Raising our Standards" programme.
'We are making improvements in how we train our people in appropriate behaviours, how we assess and select our leaders, and to build the trust our people place in us to address every complaint.
'Following Jaysley’s inquest, work is ongoing to make lasting and effective change. Change, that will give service personnel the confidence they need to report sexual offences and inappropriate behaviours, knowing that they will be listened to.'
Ms McCready previously said after February's inquest: 'I believe it was a cover up. It was made clear at this inquest that the army knew what had taken place but did not take Jaysley's complaint seriously and even tried to get her to change her story.'
She subsequently told the Sunday Times how a letter to Jaysley from Webber, then 39, confessed to an incident on July 12, 2021 and described his own behaviour as 'absolutely unacceptable'.
He concluded by telling her, 'My door will always be open' - a phrase which Ms McCready said her daughter found to be dismissive.
Gunner Beck had reported to military chiefs that Webber told her he had been 'waiting for a moment for them to be alone', engaged her in a drinking game called Last Man Standing before grabbing her leg and trying to kiss her.
February's inquest heard she pushed him away and left the room before spending the night in her car and making a complaint to her superiors in the morning, during a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth, in Hampshire for an adventure training exercise.
Webber was later given a 'minor administrative action interview' over the work social event incident, with no further consequences.
He was later promoted to Warrant Officer 1 (WO1) rank, the highest non-commissioned rank in the Army, in May 2022. He has since left the military.
The veterans minister has today described his sentencing as 'an important step on the journey to justice'.
Minister for veterans and people Louise Sandher-Jones said: 'The death of Jaysley-Louise Beck was a tragedy and her loss continues to be felt across the Army and wider defence community.
'My thoughts are with her loved ones and we remain profoundly sorry for the failure to protect her.
'Today's sentencing does not diminish the profound loss felt by her family, friends and the wider community, but it does represent an important step on the journey to justice.
'Let me be clear: there is no place for criminal or unacceptable behaviours within the military.
'All those who choose to serve our country, particularly our newest recruits, must be able to do so free from abuse, and with the dignity and respect they deserve.
'We are honouring Jaysley's legacy by bringing about crucial reform, to provide a place where people are proud to work and have faith in the service justice system.
'The Army has accepted the failings identified by the service inquiry in full and has also responded to the recommendations to improve service life across its culture, policies and practices.
'However, there is more work to be done. As a minister and Army veteran, this mission is deeply personal to me and I am committed to driving the necessary change to prevent this from happening again."
In a statement responding to Webber's guilty plea last month, Ms McCready said: 'We are relieved that Michael Webber has admitted his guilt and not put us through the trauma of yet more legal proceedings, but nothing can undo the devastating loss of our beautiful daughter Jaysley.'
She described how her daughter had done 'everything right' in reporting the attack 'immediately, not once but twice' - but senior Army officers did not alert the police.
Ms McCready added: 'If they had done that one simple thing, we believe with all our hearts she would still be with us today.'
The family's lawyer Emma Norton said: 'What an enormous difference it would have made if the Army and its chain of command had just listened to Jaysley when she first told them about the assault and reported it to the police, instead of trying to persuade her it wasn't that serious.'
It was only after February's inquest ruling and a request from Gunner Beck's family to Wiltshire Police, that a file was sent to the the Service Prosecuting Authority who then charged Webber with sexual assault.
The coroner at the earlier hearing was told of Gunner Beck being traumatised not only by Webber's attack but also the actions of three other officers - one of whom she had a long-distance affair, another who bombarded her with WhatsApp messages and another with whom she socialised on the night of her death.
In an Army statement following February's inquest verdict, the head of Army Personnel Services Group, Brigadier Melissa Emmett, said: 'On behalf of the Chief of the General Staff, I wish to extend the Army’s deepest condolences to Jaysley’s family and friends and to offer them our sincerest apologies for the failings that the Coroner has identified during this inquest.
'We should have done so much more to support and protect her.
'Jaysley was exactly the kind of person the Army needs, and she was excelling at her job. Her friends described her as someone who was kind, funny and always putting others before herself.
'The three years since Jaysley’s sad death have seen significant changes in the Army, including the introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be Zero Tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours.
'These changes are being embedded throughout our culture, policies, and enduring practices across every part of the Army.
'There is more work to do, and the evidence heard in this inquest reminds us how important it is to make lasting and effective change.
'It is my hope that such change will give service personnel the confidence they need to report sexual offences and inappropriate behaviours, knowing that they will be listened to.
'We are absolutely clear that everyone must play a role in building and upholding the respectful, professional environment we all need to thrive.'
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.