Family of soldier who died speak out as two senior officers face court martial

The family of a young soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted by a superior have spoken of their “exhausting” fight for change within the Army as it emerged two senior officers are facing a court martial over their conduct.

It is understood Major James Hook and Colonel Samantha Shepherd will face a court martial over their actions relating to Gunner Jaysley Beck, who was found hanged in her barracks in Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire, in 2021.

An inquest into the 19-year-old’s death later found that the incident and the Army’s failure to take appropriate action “more than minimally” contributed to her death.

Former senior non-commissioned officer, 43-year-old Michael Webber, was jailed for six months by a military court last year after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting Gunner Beck five months before her death.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed two people have been charged with offences relating to “conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline”.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further as legal proceedings are ongoing,” a spokesman added.

Gunner Beck’s mother, Leighann McCready, said that after the inquest her family wrote to the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker, with their concerns about “multiple Army failings in the chain of command” that led to Gunner Beck’s death.

“As a consequence of that, he directed that our concerns be referred to the service police and we are relieved finally to have reached this stage today where two individuals have been charged,” Ms McCready, from Cumbria, said.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment further on the latest court cases until they are over.

“But we can say we remain very unhappy with other parts of the Army’s response.

“We were promised a new independent complaints process for service people – especially young women like Jaysley who often have to deal with very difficult and challenging situations – we have heard nothing further about this and as far as we can tell, young women are still not benefiting from it, almost a year on from the inquest and more than four years on from Jaysley’s death.

“We feel constantly as though we have to push the Army to change and it is completely exhausting.”

Both an inquest into Gunner Beck’s death, and the court martial of Webber, heard he had engaged the young recruit in a drinking game before touching her thigh and trying to kiss her.

Gunner Beck pushed Webber – then a battery sergeant major in the Royal Artillery – away and spent the night locked in her car before making a complaint to her superiors in the morning.

However, the incident was not reported to police and Webber wrote a letter of apology to Gunner Beck. He was later promoted.

Since her death, the Ministry of Defence has set up a serious crime command and launched a violence against women and girls taskforce, and more recently has agreed in principle to remove the handling of serious complaints from the individual services.

The inquest last year in Salisbury, Wiltshire, heard the teenager had spoken with Maj Hook the day after she had been assaulted by Webber.

Maj Hook, who had organised the training event at Thorney Island, believed Gunner Beck did not want to complete the couse and the allegation “was an excuse” to leave.

In his summing up of the evidence, assistant coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said: “He asked Jaysley what outcome she wanted, and she said that she did not want anything bad to happen to Webber. She did not want anything to harm his career.

“It is hardly surprising that, subsequently, Jaysley told friends that Maj Hook had accused her of lying.”

The coroner said Maj Hook left Gunner Beck to decide how she wanted to proceed.

“Instead of investigating Jaysley’s complaint further, Maj Hook, having emphasised the effect that the complaint would have on Webber’s career, and having stressed the fact that there were no witnesses, told Jaysley to mull the matter over before deciding what action to take,” he said.

“On the balance of probabilities, I determine that Maj Hook informed no-one of Jaysley’s allegations until the cat was out of the bag, as it were.”

The inquest heard that Gunner Beck told Col Shepherd, who was the senior officer present at Thorney Island, that Webber had tried to kiss her and touch her leg.

“At the time she had not appreciated that the allegations constituted the crime of sexual assault although she did now,” the coroner said.

“She did not doubt Jaysley’s word as to what had happened for one moment.

“She regarded the matter as a serious breach of discipline.”

In her evidence to the inquest, Col Shepherd “denied being deliberately a party to a cover-up in downplaying the accusation”.

“She had taken legal advice on the matter and had followed that advice,” the coroner said.

“However, she was of the view that dealing with the matter by way of minor administrative action was entirely inappropriate.

“It was Col Shepherd’s direction that action against Webber should be by way of minor administrative action, somewhat at odds with her previous declaration that this was not appropriate.”