The Death of Jaysley Beck

The Death of Jaysley Beck

by TIM HICKS

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In this article, NYE Crime Reporter Tim Hicks covers the tragic death of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck RA (pictured above). Tim is a Chartered Accountant with experience in fraud investigation who served for eighteen years in the Territorial Army.

Death of Jaysley Beck

I read with great sadness of the death of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck RA. aged nineteen, originally from Cumberland. Jaysley served in my former regiment the Royal Artillery at Larkhill Barracks, Wiltshire. She was found hanged in her room at the barracks on the15th of December 2021.

The inquest has now concluded and its conclusions are shocking.

Jaysley’s Case

Jaysley’s family were represented at the inquest by Alison Gerry of Doughty Street Chambers, which released this statement:

“Inquest into the death of Gunner Jaysley Beck: Coroner concludes UK government may have breached soldier’s right to life

The inquest into the death of Gunner Jaysley Beck, aged 19, commenced at Salisbury Coroner’s Court on Monday, 10 February 2025, before Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg, and concluded today, Thursday, 20 February 2025. The Coroner determined that Jaysley took her own life after failings and breaches of army policy in the Army’s handling of a previous sexual assault made her reluctant to report her line manager when he later subjected her to sustained harassment.

The inquest heard that in July 2021, Jaysley was sexually assaulted by Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber during an adventure exercise. She disclosed to a relative that the incident included him placing his hands between her legs, causing her significant distress. Fearing for her safety, she fled and spent the night in her car.

The court also heard that Jaysley was subjected to sustained persistent, unwelcome sexual attention from her line manager. 

The Coroner concluded that:

There was a failure on behalf of the Army to take action in relation to the harassment that Jaysley-Louise Beck was suffering at the hands of her immediate line manage

There was a failure on behalf of the Army to take appropriate disciplinary action against a senior officer at whose hands she had suffered a sexual assault

The Coroner found that the State had arguably breached Jaysley’s Article 2 right to life under the European Convention on Human Rights due to its failure to establish and enforce a robust     framework of laws, precautions, procedures, and enforcement mechanisms to protect life, referencing Middleton v HM Coroner for Western District of Somerset (2004) UKHL 10.

The Coroner made two key determinations regarding systemic failings within the Army:

Failure to Address Harassment

• • Jaysley was subjected to prolonged and intolerable harassment by her line manager, leading to significant stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, and fear for her safety.
  • Multiple colleagues of superior rank were aware of the situation but failed to report it, despite having a duty to do so.
  • The failure to report constituted a systemic failure, either due to misplaced loyalty or an inadequate complaints system that did not sufficiently encourage engagement.
    

Failure to Properly Investigate a Sexual Assault

• • The inquest found that evidence revealed that there was a failure on behalf of the State to deal with Jaysley’s complaint of sexual assault effectively or appropriately.
  • Senior officers involved in the decision-making process prioritised securing the least punitive outcome for the accused rather than following established procedures.
  • This constituted a systemic failure, as the correct disciplinary and investigative protocols were not adhered to.”

• • Bombardier Ryan Mason, who has now left the army, sent thousands of texts to Jaysley. This was investigated by Wiltshire Police, which concluded there was not enough evidence to prosecute him for harassment. Bombardier Ryan was allowed to leave the army without having any charges brought under military law. He declined to answer a number of questions about his conduct towards Jaysley – who was his subordinate – at the inquest.
  • Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Michael Webber also declined to answer questions relating to the allegations referred to in the statement above. WO2 Webber received a minor administrative action following the incident. Despite this he was subsequently promoted.
  • Former Sergeant George Higgins also declined to answer questions about an alleged relationship with Jaysley when she was a recruit in Harrogate. It is an offence for a person in a position of trust to have sex with a person who is under eighteen years old.

So, in summary, Jaysley – a Gunner (the lowest rank in the Royal Artillery, being the equivalent of Private, Rifleman, Trooper etc. in other regiments) – was allegedly subjected to sexual assault and harassment by three men, all of whom were in positions of trust and senior to her in rank, with powers over her under military law. No effective action has been taken against any of them by the Police or the Army and Jaysley was driven to take her own life.

The Army’s statement on Jaysley’s death can be read here.

The need for Armed Forces complaints to be removed from the control of the armed forces.

The Coroner’s comments on the failure of the military complaints system accord with my own experience in 1990, when as a Lieutenant in the Territorial Army (now the Army Reserve). I submitted a complaint.

Briefly, I had detected a series of frauds by a more senior Officer culminating in him using Ministry of Defence funds he had embezzled, to pay for a pub strip show in which he participated and allowed himself to be photographed naked with two naked strippers in a pub at Larkhill in 1988.

I alleged the Officer had committed offences of fraud, conduct unbecoming the character of a Commissioned Officer and insubordination, and that he was a security risk. All serious offences under military law. My complaint was suppressed and I instantly became the subject of a campaign of harassment aimed at forcing me out. I was falsely accused of committing an offence under military law (as an Officer in the Territorial Army, I was fully subject to military law, the same as an Officer in the Regular Army). When I submitted a complaint about this I was suspended from duty. A report was subsequently written on me by the Officer I had complained about, alleging that I had disregarded the chain of command and had difficult relations with the senior Officers in my unit. All of my recommendations for promotion were withdrawn and a Regular Army Brigadier recommended that I did not have a future in the Territorial Army. This covered up the crimes committed by the senior Officer and brought my service in the reserve forces to an end.

I took the case to the High Court and coincidentally was also represented by Doughty Street Chambers. After five years of being suspended from duty, the Ministry of Defence agreed to re-instate me and quash the report – effectively admitting that the allegations against me were false and clearing my name. I had nevertheless been forced out. No action was taken against the Officer concerned, or those officers that had supported him and tried to cover up his crimes although the Ministry of Defence had conceded that allegations I made were true.

My case was one of the first major “Whistleblower” cases and was quoted in the media and in the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life, which issued guidelines on protection of whistleblowers. I believe this has helped protect employees who report fraud and other wrongdoing.

However, it was clear to me that the military complaints system was beyond salvation. Senior officers are inherently wedded to supporting the chain of command against an individual serviceman of lower rank no matter what. Inevitably this results in them protecting wrong doers at the expense of their victims, as happened in Jaysley’s case and in mine.

The Armed Forces Ombudsman recently found that the Armed Forces complaints system is inefficient and unfair for the eighth year in a row. Report here. As a result, a talented, dedicated and capable young soldier with a great future ahead of her is now dead. If her complaints had been investigated impartially and her abusers punished, I have no doubt that Jaysley would still be alive.

It is scandalous that the Armed Forces have been allowed to retain such a fundamentally flawed complaints system for so long. The Army’s claims that the situation is improving are (to use an army term) bullshit. Nothing has changed since my case in 1990.

However, there is a wider issue. The reality is that rank structured public organisations will always protect senior figures and their public image over all other factors. So internal inquiries will not be impartial. A few examples.

The Jimmy Savile and Peter Jaconelli Paedophile Ring

Scarborough Mayor Peter Jaconelli and his subordinate Jimmy Savile raped children in Scarborough and Whitby with the full knowledge of North Yorkshire Police (NYP) which would not arrest them because Jaconelli was a Councillor and Savile was a celebrity. When the allegations about Jimmy Savile became known, NYP issued a statement that he had no connections to North Yorkshire, even though he lived in Scarborough and had attended a Police-organized event in Selby with the Chief Constable.

Following a BBC investigation which the NYE team participated in, NYP was forced to admit that Savile and Jaconelli had committed multiple rapes in Scarborough and Whitby and that they had been reported to NYP multiple times, but were protected.

However, no Police Officer ever faced prosecution for the way they protected Savile and Jaconelli, because the investigation was conducted by NYP.

Throxenby Hall and the Death of Martin Mennell

Martin died while swimming unsupervised in the pool at the Throxenby Hall Residential Care Home run by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC). At the time there was a paedophile ring of NYCC Residential Care Officers at Throxenby Hall who were emotionally, physical and sexually abusing the boys there and trafficking them to Jaconelli and Savile.

Other former residents of Throxenby hall have taken their own lives as a result of the abuse they suffered there.

At the time, the Residential Care Officers were protected from prosecution by NYCC Social Services, to avoid a scandal. Some of the Residential Care Officers and some of the Social Workers that protected them are still alive and could face prosecution. However North Yorkshire Council is refusing to comment on this and has proscribed the North Yorks Enquirer to remove the need to answer our enquiries.

In short, North Yorkshire Council will not impartially investigate serious crime by its own employees. Predictably, no one has ever been held to account for these crimes.

The Bishop Peter Ball and John Smyth Scandals.

The NYE has investigated the role of Lord Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury in the cover ups into Bishop Peter Ball and John Smyth, which led to the recent resignation of Justin Welby. Briefly, Ball and Smyth abused children and were protected by the Church of England. Their abuse led to the deaths of Neil Todd, who committed suicide and Guide Nyachuru whose naked body was found in a swimming pool at a Christian Camp where Smyth abused the boys.

Carey was implicated in both cover-ups. Analysis that I performed (which was submitted to the Dame Moira Gibb investigation into the Church of England) showed that he had misused church funds to help Ball. It was only in December 2024 that he was forced to surrender his permission to officiate. He is still a member of the House of Lords.

Even now, neither Archbishop Welby nor Bishop of Newcastle Helen Ann Hartley will respond to my request for an investigation into Lord Carey. They do not deny he has done wrong; they just refuse to comment and block the investigation. In short, because the power to initiate an investigate is held internally in the Church of England, nothing has been done, Lord Carey has not been held to account and he has not been forced to pay back the church funds he gave to Ball.

Now the Church of England has voted against having fully independent safeguarding investigations, leaving these powers with the bishops, which is historically why the problem of abusive clergy has never been faced up to.

The Ben Marriott Scandal

Scarborough whistleblower Ben Marriott spoke out against corruption in Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) and was forced out of his job in retaliation. SBC whitewashed the investigation into his complaint.

Despite suffering three heart attacks brought on by the stress of the case, Brave Ben took SBC to an industrial tribunal and received a settlement of £95,000 for being forced out of his job.

The NYE supported him with coverage of his case throughout this ordeal and helped arrange national media coverage in Private Eye.

The NYE and KDC

For some time now, the NYE has been covering allegations of horrific abuse at Kirklevington Detention Centre (KDC) in North Yorkshire. The investigation is being conducted by Cleveland Police, which recently confirmed:

“This non-recent investigation is complex and time-consuming, with 818 victims to date and 21 suspects that have been interviewed. 

There have been two previous case files submitted to the CPS for a charging decision, but unfortunately whilst awaiting a decision these suspects passed away. A further four files have been submitted to CPS and a further four are currently being progressed by our officers.”

The NYE’s coverage of KDC has helped keep this in the public eye and encourage progress. However, Police Officers from six Forces, including NYP and Cleveland Police, are alleged to have been involved in covering up these crimes. I predict that none of the ten files are on Police Officers. We will see.

The NYE’s position since its inception is that it is only by having independent investigations, that abusers within institutions will be properly investigated. The Coroner’s determinations in the six bullet points above could apply equally to all of the above cases and many others.

Absent the basic safeguard of an independent complaints system these cases will continue to occur and lives will continue to be lost.

Under these circumstances, it is essential that we have a free press that will relentlessly expose these scandals. The NYE tries to do this, in the public interest.