Teenage soldier's death 'partly caused by Army complaints failure'
A coroner's ruled 19 year old Jaysley Beck died by suicide
Last updated 20th Feb 2025
The Army's failure to properly investigate complaints of abuse contributed to the suicide of a teenage soldier who died in her room at a base, a coroner has ruled.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found hanged at Wiltshire's Larkhill Camp in December 2021.
The Salisbury inquest heard the 19-year-old, originally from Bradford in West Yorkshire, had complained to her family about the "possessive and psychotic" behaviour of her boss, Ryan Mason, a bombardier at the time, who had sent her 4,600 WhatsApp messages over the preceding two months.
The teenager had also made a complaint against another senior soldier, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, now of warrant officer 2 rank, who she said had "pinned her down" while attempting to kiss her during a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021 for an adventure training exercise.
Nicholas Rheinberg, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, has today (Thursday 20th February) found that this complaint being dealt with as a "minor administrative action" instead of being reported to police as a sexual assault was "more than a minimal contributory factor" in her death.
The coroner said that despite toxicology tests showing that she was three times over legal drink drive limit at the time of her death, he believed she had intended to take her own life.
He said: "My conclusion is she died by suicide. I am satisfied Jaysley undertook the physical actions that resulted in her death by hanging, the inevitable consequences must have been known to Jaysley despite the level of alcohol she had consumed.
"I am satisfied she intended to die."
Speaking after the hearing, Jaysley's mother, Leighann McCready, said: "Jaysley was so much more than a soldier - she was our daughter, a sister to Emily and a friend to so many.
"She was kind, caring and truly loved by everyone who knew her. She was full of life, bright and absolutely fantastic at her job.
"Today, the Coroner has given his findings. They are extremely critical and he found that various Army failings in the handling of her report of sexual assault and in responding to the sexual harassment she was suffering, contributed to her death.
"The Army has admitted that it let Jaysley down, and has apologised for its failings - but no apology will ever bring our daughter back."
Mr Mason denied he had tried to "manipulate" Gunner Beck by putting pressure on her by talking about his own mental health and suicide concerns while WO2 Webber, who is married, declined to answer questions at the inquest.
Brigadier Melissa Emmett, head of the army personnel services group, apologised at the inquest to Gunner Beck's family and said the force formally accepted failures were made.
The coroner, Mr Rheinberg, said that he would not be preparing a report to prevent future deaths as he had been "reassured" by the Army, including from Brigadier Emmett's evidence, that "matters are currently under review and revision".
Emma Norton, the family's solicitor, said:
"It is hard to imagine a more critical set of conclusions from the coroner, who has today found that the multiple and extremely serious failings on the part of the Army in responding to Jaysley's report of sexual assault and her experience of intolerable sexual harassment, contributed to her death."