Officer who ‘tried to kiss soldier’ refuses to answer questions at her inquest

A senior officer accused of pinning down and attempting to kiss a teenage soldier has declined to answer questions about the incident to her inquest.

Jaysley Beck, 19, a Royal Artillery Gunner, made a complaint against Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, now of Warrant Officer Class 1 rank, during a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021.

Gunner Beck claimed WO1 Webber told her he had been “waiting for a moment for them to be alone”, had engaged her in a drinking game called Last Man Standing before grabbing her leg and trying to kiss her.

Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard Gunner Beck pushed the senior officer away and left the room before phoning a friend, having been “frightened” that W01 Webber, then aged 39, would come “looking for her”.

The inquest was told Gunner Beck was “crying” and locked herself in her car that night before making a complaint to her superiors in the morning.

WO1 Webber later received a minor administrative action and wrote a letter of apology to Gunner Beck, which was hand-delivered to her by her senior line manager, Major Richard Lupton.

On Wednesday, WO1 Webber gave evidence to Gunner Beck’s inquest which is being heard before Assistant Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg.

After being sworn as a witness, the coroner gave WO1 Webber a warning that the officer did not have to answer questions if he believed his response could incriminate him.

WO1 Webber confirmed that he had encountered Gunner Beck professionally before she went on the five-day adventure training package on Thorney Island.

The coroner asked: “Over your time at Thorney Island, did you encounter Gunner Beck – giving the same warning?”

WO1 Webber replied: “Decline to answer.”

The witness confirmed he had written a letter of apology to Gunner Beck and that the letter’s content was true.

The coroner asked: “You will see in the letter you describe your behaviour as ‘absolutely unacceptable’ – same warning – what was your behaviour?”

WO1 Webber replied: “Decline to answer.”

Coroner Rheinberg asked: “Same warning – sometime around 3am on July 13 2021, did you place your hand uninvited on Gunner Beck’s leg?”

WO1 Webber said: “Decline to answer.”

The coroner asked: “Did you pin Gunner Beck down while attempting to kiss her?”

WO1 Webber replied: “Decline to answer.”

The coroner asked: “Were you drunk?”

WO1 Webber said: “Decline to answer.”

He also declined to say whether he had been ordered to leave the island by Colonel Samantha Shepherd, who was the regimental colonel for the Royal Artillery in 2021.

Alison Gerry, representing Gunner Beck’s family, raised a statement given by WO1 Webber following her death.

She asked him why the document did not give details of the incident with Gunner Beck, apart from stating that she had made an “allegation” against him.

Ms Gerry said: “The evidence we have heard is you engaged her in a drinking game, you grabbed her leg, you tried to kiss her and you made her so frightened she slept in her car. Those are not details included.”

WO1 Webber replied: “Decline to answer.”

Ms Gerry asked: “Did you admit to your wife that you put your hand on Jaysley’s leg?”

He replied: “Decline to answer.”

Ms Gerry raised the content of the letter written by WO1 Webber and handed to Gunner Beck, which included the line “my door will always be open”.

WO1 Webber said: “At the time, it was very much a genuine apology, that’s all it was.”

The inquest heard the officer was promoted to WO1 rank in May 2022, despite the minor administrative action he received for the incident with Gunner Beck.

At the conclusion of his evidence, WO1 Webber confirmed he intends to leave the Army later this year.

Major Lupton told the inquest that Gunner Beck was “the epitome of who you would want in the Army” and described how he had been informed of the incident on Thorney Island.

He confirmed he later handed Gunner Beck the letter of apology written by WO1 Webber.

Major Lupton said: “She was calm. She read the letter. I asked if she was happy, if she was OK about it. She said yes. I would have said some words of encouragement.”

Another witness, Major Robert Ronz, investigated the incident but said he had not been aware that Gunner Beck alleged WO1 Webber had touched her leg.

He said: “[Colonel Shepherd] explained to me that after a barbecue, in the early hours of the morning, Sergeant Major Webber and Gunner Beck had found themselves alone in the bar and Sgt Maj Webber had attempted to kiss Jaysley.

“The kiss hadn’t occurred. Jaysley was totally uninterested in his advance. She had broken away from the kiss, left the room and that was the end of the incident. I was not aware of the allegation of physical contact.”

Maj Ronz said if he had been aware of that allegation, he would have “interrogated” the advice he had been given by commanding officers and the legal advice they had sought.

Ms Gerry told him: “The evidence we have heard in relation to what happened is that Webber had told Jaysley he had been waiting for a moment for them to be alone.

“That he had engaged in a drinking game with her called Last Man Standing. He grabbed her leg and tried to kiss her. He did this three to four times.

“She pushed him away. She phoned a friend. She was frightened that Webber would come looking for her. She collected her things and was crying and went and locked herself in her car.”

Maj Ronz confirmed that the formal record stated that WO1 Webber had committed “inappropriate behaviour unbecoming of a Warrant Officer” but contained no details of the incident.

He said this was because the “shelf life of this sanction” would have been during his time at the headquarters, and “knowledge of the additional detail resided in me”.

Gunner Beck was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on December 15 2021.

Previously, the inquest heard 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.

The inquest continues.