Female soldier ‘slept in car after senior officer pinned her down’, inquest told

A colleague of teenage soldier Jaysley Beck has told an inquest into her death that she phoned her, “frightened and in tears”, in the middle of the night after she claimed a senior officer had “pinned” her down and tried to kiss her.

The 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on December 15 2021.

The inquest into Gunner Beck’s death has heard that she had made a complaint against a senior officer, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, during a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021 for an adventure training exercise.

Lance Bombardier Kirsty Davis, who was a gunner at the time and trained with Gunner Beck at Harrogate when they both joined the Army, told the hearing in Salisbury that her friend had called her in the early hours.

She said Gunner Beck told her that “something happened that night, they were all having a few drinks, someone tried it on with her”.

The inquest heard that Lance Bombardier Davis made a statement saying “he was trying to kiss her and she was trying to push him away, he was pinning her down”.

The hearing was also told of a message sent by Gunner Beck which stated that he was “grabbing the back of my neck for a kiss”.

Lance Bombardier told the inquest that she was on a “sleeping guard” at an airfield elsewhere and had 20 missed calls from Gunner Beck before she spoke to her.

She said Gunner Beck did not want her to end the phone call and it lasted “all night”.

She added: “I think she was afraid he was going to come to the car.”

She said in her statement: “I remember him saying she was amazing and beautiful. I know this because Jaysley hated compliments and it made her feel awkward.”

She added that Gunner Beck told her he “tried to force himself on her more than once, a few times. Jaysley had told him no, tried to get away from him but he had persisted so she left.

“I do not know if he actually kissed her or tried to, I do not remember if Jaysley said he had touched her or not.

“Jaysley was in tears, she was upset. I think she was just frightened at what was going on and she was crying, just a little bit.”

The inquest heard that Mr Webber, who is now at Warrant Officer 2 rank, was made subject to a “minor sanction” after Gunner Beck made a complaint and he wrote a letter of apology to her.

Lance Bombardier Davis said in her statement: “Jaysley wasn’t happy with what had happened but if you are in the Army and a lower rank, no-one will believe you, especially against a higher rank.

“She didn’t want to get into trouble or cause a drama.”

She told the hearing that Gunner Beck did not want to take the matter further so “nothing would happen to him or his job as she didn’t want to suffer any backlash from it.”

The inquest has also heard that Gunner Beck received thousands of messages from another senior colleague, Bombardier Ryan Mason, whom she described as being “psychotic and possessive”.

An Army service inquiry report published in October 2023 described this as “an intense period of unwelcome behaviour” and said it was “almost certain this was a causal factor” in her death.

The report also said the Thorney Island incident was “possibly a factor that may have influenced her failure to report other events that happened subsequently”.

The report added that family issues, including a bereavement, were also responsible for Gunner Beck’s death, which her family reject.

It detailed three “contributory factors” to Gunner Beck’s death – the “significant strain” of a sexual relationship with a married colleague in the last few weeks of her life; a relationship that ended in November 2021 which involved “repeated allegations of unfaithfulness on the part of the boyfriend”; and an “unhealthy approach to alcohol, with episodes of binge-drinking”.

It added that Gunner Beck had no diagnosed mental health conditions and had not sought welfare support from anyone in the Army.

Major James Hook, who had organised the Thorney Island event which included a kitesurfing course, told the hearing that Gunner Beck had made a complaint to him the following morning that WO2 (Warrant Officer Class 2) Webber “had made a pass at her”.

He said he accepted she had made an allegation of a “physical” pass and asked her what she wanted to happen.

Major Hook, who was a captain at the time, said: “She said she wanted nothing bad to happen to him and his career.”

He said he then asked her what she did want, and she replied: “All I want is to be sent back to Larkhill.”

Major Hook said Gunner Beck had not been enjoying the kitesurfing course and added: “I thought there was a possibility that she was trying to generate a situation where she would be removed from Thorney Island and returned to Larkhill.”

Asked by coroner Nicholas Rheinberg if he had taken an opportunity for the allegation to be “swept under the carpet”, Major Hook replied: “There was absolutely no motive to protect anybody who was accused.”

Mr Rheinberg asked: “It would be a huge scandal that would affect the reputation of your regiment?”

Major Hook replied: “Yes.”

The coroner also asked: “Was it a relief to you when Gunner Beck said to you that she didn’t want the regimental battery sergeant major to get into trouble?”

Major Hook replied: “Absolutely not, that didn’t cross my mind at all.”

Colonel Samantha Shepherd, who was the regimental colonel for the Royal Artillery in 2021, told the inquest that at about midnight she told the remaining people at a barbecue being held on Thorney Island that it was time for the event to finish.

She said she would have been “furious” if she had known that some of the group stayed up as late as 3am.

Col Shepherd said she was informed the following evening that Gunner Beck had made an allegation against WO2 Webber.

She said: “She said that Mr Webber had made a pass at her, I asked her in more detail and she essentially said ‘He touched my leg and tried to kiss me’.

“I clarified whether he did kiss her and she said ‘No, but he tried to’.

“I reassured her that this wouldn’t be swept under the carpet, it would be taken seriously.

“At no point did I doubt the veracity of the allegation.”

She added: “I didn’t see it as sexual assault, I saw it as unwelcome attention, inappropriate contact. I know now that it constitutes a sexual assault but I didn’t know it at the time.”

Col Shepherd said she sought advice from the adjutant and said: “The advice was that this was to be dealt with via a minor administrative action by way of a formal interview and letter of apology, and that was exactly the same as what Gunner Beck wanted.”

She said she recognised the suggestion that “people who make a complaint can suffer a backlash”.

In a previous statement, Col Shepherd said she believed Gunner Beck’s impression of the incident was of “another idiot bloke having tried it on with her”.

She added that she felt the heavy drinking culture in the Army had “seen a real shift” and said the “younger generation are far less interested in alcohol”.

She said she did not believe that Gunner Beck had been “disillusioned” at the effectiveness of the disciplinary process because of the way the complaint about WO2 Webber had been handled.

The hearing continues.