Officer’s apology after alleged misconduct ‘not acceptable outcome’ – inquest

A senior officer accused of pinning down and attempting to kiss a teenage soldier should have been penalised more than having to just write a letter of apology, an inquest has heard.

Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber had to apologise to Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, after allegedly grabbing her leg and trying to kiss her.

The teenage soldier made a complaint about the officer, who has since been promoted to warrant officer, following a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021 for an adventure training exercise.

Gunner Beck claimed WO2 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 spending the night in her car, and making a complaint to her superiors in the morning.

WO2 Webber received a minor administrative action and wrote a letter of apology to Gunner Beck.

Five months later, Gunner Beck, who served with the Royal Artillery, was found hanged in her room at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire.

Bombardier George Young, a friend of Gunner Beck, told the inquest she would confide in him and that her complaint about WO2 Webber was “squashed”.

“He wasn’t removed from post or anything,” he said.

“What I know about how the disciplinary system is supposed to work is, apology or not, that person should be removed from post while being investigated.”

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

Bmdr Young said he had encouraged her to report the incidents with Bmdr Mason.

“Then it came up in sort of conversation about Thorney and she had reported it and this is what happened,” he told the inquest.

“I believe from what she was telling me she didn’t want to seem like that girl that was just constantly putting in complaints.

“From what she was saying, she was worried that she’d just be seen as causing drama and her biggest fear was … she loved the job … so the biggest fear was being sent back to her unit and taken off the team.

“She was worrying that they would just remove her from the situation rather than deal with the issue.”

Assistant Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg suggested to the witness that he appeared “incensed” at the outcome of the incident with WO2 Webber, which he said he agreed with “100%”.

“I think she just cared about people a lot. She took their well-being above her own and didn’t want to get that person in trouble, despite it not being right,” Bmdr Young said.

“The situation was clearly not normal.

“I don’t know what the conversation was surrounding getting an apology letter in the first place, but I was only a gunner at the time, but certainly now holding rank, I think that an apology letter shouldn’t even be offered in that situation.

“Why is that an acceptable outcome for that, especially with someone holding such a high rank.”

The inquest heard that Gunner Beck was a “lively character” and Bmdr Young added: “(She was) very happy, lit up any room, made friends easily, inspired people, good person.”

He said she was a very capable soldier who performed her duties “exceptionally”.

Bmdr Young said he was friends with Gunner Beck and had a brief relationship with her in the summer of 2021.

He told the inquest of what she told him about Bmdr Mason’s behaviour towards her.

“It became apparent that his overall professional boundaries started to slip,” he said.

“As in it became a lot friendlier, so the line between line manager and subordinate … that area became, I would say, a little greyer.”

He told the inquest that she had tearfully phoned him in September 2021 to tell him that Bmdr Mason had confessed his feelings to her, which he had then repeated again the following day.

“Usually if someone makes an advance at you, confesses feelings and you don’t display mutual feelings back, you expect them to take the hint and move on,” Bmdr Young said.

“I think persistent pursuit, despite being told ‘no, there’s nothing here’, to then extend into multiple texts, phone calls and threats to do something to yourself, I think that I wouldn’t say is healthy.”

Asked to describe Gunner Beck’s reaction to this behaviour, he replied: “It was stressful. You could tell it was stressful. She said it was stressful.

“I don’t think it made her feel particularly comfortable while at work.”

The court heard Bmdr Mason’s behaviour had “ramped up” in the weeks before her death and led to another incident on a training exercise in December.

Bmdr Young told the hearing: “She said that it got too far, and that she could no longer deal with being around Ryan, and that she didn’t want to be on the event anymore.”

He said he picked her up from the hotel where she was staying and took her back to Larkhill Camp.

“She said the intensity of the behaviour really ramped up in terms of what was being said. I think he tried knocking on her hotel room door … ,” he said.

“I believe later that week, he told her that he was going to take himself off the team for personal reasons.

“That’s when she sort of said that he’s leaving the team anyway so there’s no need to report it.”

Bombardier Braddon Haigh told the inquest Gunner Beck had described the letter of apology from WO2 Webber as “pathetic”.

“I saw it and briefly read it, and I just remember her saying it was pathetic, an easy win for him to write the letter,” he said.

“I remember her saying, ‘Is that it?’

“I remember people saying that’s not good enough, but she didn’t want to make a massive scene.

“Obviously not happy with it, she’s escalated it and that’s the outcome. She’s not happy with the whole thing, the touching and the letter, not good enough.”

Bmdr Haigh said that following the incident with WO2 Webber, Gunner Beck was reluctant to repeat the disciplinary process with Bmdr Mason having “lost faith in the rank”.

“People suggested reporting it, but she said, ‘I’ll just get another letter again’,” he said.

“The fact that if she can’t use the chain of command and go for a sergeant major what good is it going about anybody else?

“That whole team clearly looked out for each other in a way that if someone comes with a service complaint it is just brushed under, write your letter, done and dusted.

“If she can’t come forward when there is solid evidence about a sergeant major what good is the system?”

The hearing continues.