A former army sergeant has admitted sexually assaulting a teenage soldier who later took her own life at a Wiltshire military base.
Nineteen-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found dead in her barracks at Larkhill in 2021, after making a complaint against Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber.
She had reported that Webber pinned her down and tried to kiss her during a work social event – allegations he has now pleaded guilty to.
Earlier this year, an inquest found that the army’s handling of her complaint played “more than a minimal contributory part in her death”.
Webber, who has since left the army, appeared at a pre-trial hearing at the Court Martial Centre in Bulford on Friday (5 September) and admitted one count of sexual assault. He is awaiting sentencing.
In a statement, Jaysley’s mother Leighann 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.”
Jaysley reported the assault despite being discouraged by senior officers.
Her mother said she did “everything right”, explaining that her daughter reported the incident “immediately, not once but twice”.
She added that the army’s chain of command failed her daughter by not contacting the police: “If they had done that one simple thing, we believe with all our hearts she would still be with us today.”
The inquest was told that Captain Hook pressured Jaysley to withdraw her allegations and only escalated the report after the “cat was already out of the bag”.
Following the hearing in February, Jaysley’s family urged Wiltshire Police to investigate. Officers submitted a case file to the Service Prosecuting Authority in June, which later confirmed Webber would be charged.
The army has previously apologised to the Beck family, stating after the inquest: “We could have, and should have done more.”
It said new policies have since been introduced to enforce “zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours”.
Emma Norton, solicitor for the Beck family, said it was an “enormous relief” that Webber had accepted responsibility.
She added: “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.”
