Death of Jaysley Beck: Follow-Up

Death of Jaysley Beck: Follow-Up

In this article, NYE Crime Reporter TIM HICKS follows up his article on the tragic death of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck RA Death of Jaysley Beck, pictured above. Some of this occurred in Harrogate, the largest army base in Europe is in Catterick and girls from North Yorkshire join the army, so the situation with abuse of female soldiers that Gunner Beck’s case has revealed must be of concern.

Background

Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck RA aged nineteen from Cumberland was a dedicated and successful soldier who was found hanging in her room at her Barracks at Larkhill, Salisbury Plain on the15th of December 2021. The inquest concluded:

• “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.”

• “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 manager.”

• “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.”
• “Senior officers involved in the decision-making process prioritised securing the least punitive outcome for the accused rather than following established procedures.”

Source: Doughty Street Chambers, which represented Gunner Beck’s family.

Michael Webber convicted

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Michael Webber received a minor administrative action after sexually assaulting Gunner Beck by pinning her down, touching her between the legs and trying to kiss her in July 2021. This ensured that in real terms he was not punished in any meaningful way and was able to carry on his army career without any inconvenience. He was subsequently promoted.

Webber, now aged 43, has retired from the army, but was nevertheless tried at the Court Martial Centre and sentenced to six months in prison and added to the sex offenders register for seven years. Judge Advocate General (JAG) Alan Large said the starting point for sentencing was one year of imprisonment, but this was reduced due to his guilty plea, his exemplary record and his remorse afterwards. The sentence could not be more severe, because the harm sustained by Gunner Beck as a result of Webbers attack on her did not constitute  “severe psychological harm“. JAG Large served fourteen years in the Royal Navy as a naval barrister.

The sentence has been severely criticised. Quoted by the BBC:

• Fay Maxted, Chief Executive of The Survivors Trust charity, said the sentence was “derisory“.
• Maxime Rowson, from the charity Rape Crisis England and Wales said: “Jaysley Beck’s death is the devastating consequence of a culture which tolerates misogyny, silences victims and survivors, and fails to hold perpetrators accountable.”

The Attorney General’s office has received complaints alleging Webber’s sentence was unduly lenient. This could lead to the Court Martial Appeal Court reviewing the sentence and if it is determined to be unduly lenient, increasing the sentence.

The NYE concurs that the sentence appears unduly lenient. This is on the basis that the conclusion that Gunner Beck did not suffer severe psychological harm appears perverse, given that she committed suicide after it. Webber has not been reduced to the ranks and still retains his status of a retired Warrant Officer. The Court appears to have ignored the breach of trust involved in his attack on her. It appears to have also ignored the impact that the knowledge that Webber was her line manager, that he may continue to make attacks on her and the knowledge that the army would not take her complaints seriously had on her.

It is to be hoped that Webber’s sentence will be reviewed and increased.

The others who were not punished

• Former Bombardier Ryan Mason sent 1,000 messages to Gunner Beck in October 2021 and 3,600 in November. Wiltshire Police concluded there was not enough evidence to prosecute him for harassment. He declined to answer a number of questions about his conduct towards Gunner Beck -who was under his command- at the inquest.
• Former Sergeant George Higgins also declined to answer questions about an alleged relationship with Gunner Beck when she was a recruit in Harrogate aged 16. 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, Gunner Beck was subjected to sexual assault, harassment and misconduct 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 was taken against any of them. Only following her suicide, was one of them convicted. He was given a derisory sentence.

It is completely unacceptable for middle aged married men to use their positions in the army pray on vulnerable sixteen year old girls and young women.

I have no doubt that the officers alleged to have harassed Gunner Beck knew their rank would ensure that the Army would suppress her complaints. Allowing them to abuse her with impunity. If they thought that they would be effectively punished, I think it unlikely they would have proceeded and Gunner Beck may still be alive. This raises the question of the conduct of the officers that protected Webber.

• Gunner Beck reported the assault to Captain James Hook, who was concerned about the ramifications for WO2 Webber and put pressure on her to drop the allegations. He only reported it to higher command when forced to.
• Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Shepherd determined that the incident should be dealt with as inappropriate behaviour, not a crime. This ensured it would be wiped from the record when Webber was posted to another role. She later claimed she did not understand that a man pinning a woman down, touching her between the legs and kissing her constituted a crime of sexual assault, which should have been reported to the police. This oversight enabled the case to be retained within the army and swept under the carpet. It should have been reported to the police.

No disciplinary action was taken against either officer. They were both subsequently promoted.

The need for an independent service complaints system

Women in the armed forces are highly vulnerable to sexual abuse of the type that Gunner Beck had to endure:

• They leave home and arrive in the army at a vulnerable age and without the close contact with family they are used to.
• Men who are their line managers have power to prosecute them under military law.
• When they leave work, female soldiers do not go home, they remain within the army when off duty in army barracks.
• Male officers have a right of entry to their accommodation.
• When on exercise or training, they are not segregated from their work colleagues at night and have to share accommodation in the field e.g. a tent or shared toilets.

It follows from this that safeguards in the army should be rigorous and of a higher standard than in civilian life.

If a man pinned a woman against a wall, tried to kiss her and touch her intimately at a civilian workplace, the police would be called and he would be summarily dismissed for gross misconduct on the spot. Gunner Beck’s case shows that in the army, there is in fact a lower standard. If Webber had been the same rank as Gunner Beck, I have no doubt that the attack would have been investigated properly. He would have been handed over to the police. Instead, because Gunner Beck’s assailant was senior to her in rank, army officers closed ranks, ignored their duty and the procedures, and focused on protecting him.

This cover-up would have succeeded if Gunner Beck’s suicide had not focused attention on the case and the injustice she suffered.

So long as the army investigates itself, women will continue to be harassed and abused within the armed forces.

The last word in this article goes to Gunner Beck’s mother Mrs Leighann McCreedy:

“Until policies are properly changed, I wouldn’t recommend anybody joining the Army because they protect themselves and not the soldiers, and that’s what happened to our daughter Jaysley.”