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A former Army sergeant major has been ordered to serve 180 days in prison for committing sexual assault against a 19-year-old soldier who later ended her life.

Sergeant Major Michael Webber, forty-three, held down service member Jaysley Beck and sought to force a kiss on her in July 2021. She was found dead half a year following in her military accommodation at the Wiltshire base.

The defendant, who was sentenced at the Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire earlier, will be placed in a correctional facility and registered as offender database for a seven-year period.

The victim's mother the mother remarked: "What he [Webber] did, and how the armed forces failed to protect our young woman subsequently, cost Jaysley her life."

Official Reaction

The Army 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 response to her complaint.

Following a formal inquiry regarding Gunner Beck's death, the defendant confessed to one count of unwanted sexual advance in the autumn.

Ms McCready stated her daughter should have been alongside her family in court this day, "to observe the individual she filed against brought to justice for what he did."

"Instead, we are present without her, enduring endless sorrow that no family should ever experience," she continued.

"She adhered to protocols, but the individuals in charge didn't follow theirs. These shortcomings broke our young woman completely."

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Court Proceedings

The judicial body was advised that the assault occurred during an field exercise at the exercise site, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in mid-2021.

The accused, a Sergeant Major at the time, attempted physical intimacy towards the servicewoman after an social gathering while on assignment for a military exercise.

Gunner Beck stated the sergeant remarked he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be in private" before taking hold of her, pinning her down, and making unwanted advances.

She made official allegations against the accused following the assault, despite attempts by superiors to persuade her not to.

An inquest into her suicide found the Army's handling of the allegations played "a significant contributory part in her death."

Parent's Account

In a testimony presented to the judicial body previously, the mother, stated: "She had just turned 19 and will eternally stay a teenager full of life and laughter."

"She had faith authorities to defend her and after what he did, the confidence was gone. She was deeply distressed and terrified of the sergeant."

"I saw the difference firsthand. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That assault destroyed her trust in the set-up that was supposed to safeguard her."

Sentencing Remarks

During sentencing, The presiding judge the magistrate said: "We need to assess whether it can be handled in an alternative approach. We do not consider it can."

"We are satisfied the gravity of the offence means it can only be resolved by incarceration."

He spoke to Webber: "The victim had the strength and intelligence to instruct you to cease and told you to go to bed, but you persisted to the extent she believed she could not feel secure from you despite the fact she retreated to her assigned barracks."

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

"After the complaint, the unit opted to address your behavior with minimal consequences."

"You were interviewed and you accepted your actions had been inappropriate. You composed a apology note."

"Your professional path continued completely unaffected and you were in due course promoted to Warrant Officer 1."

Background Information

At the inquest into Gunner Beck's death, the official examiner said military leadership influenced her to drop the allegations, and merely disclosed it to a military leadership "once details became known."

At the moment, Webber was given a "minor administrative action interview" with no serious repercussions.

The inquest was also told that mere weeks after the assault the servicewoman had also been facing "relentless harassment" by a different service member.

A separate service member, her line manager, directed toward her more than 4,600 digital communications expressing emotions for her, accompanied by a fifteen-page "personal account" outlining his "fantasies about her."

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Official Statement

The Army stated it offered its "sincerest condolences" to the servicewoman and her loved ones.

"We will always be profoundly sorry for the shortcomings that were discovered at the official inquiry in February."

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