Sister of soldier Jaysley Beck warns women not to join Army

The sister of soldier Jaysley Beck has warned women not to join the Army after a coroner found that “systemic” failures had contributed to her death.

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

Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg ruled at the Salisbury inquest that the Army’s failure to take action after Gunner Beck was harassed by her line manager contributed to her death.

He also ruled that “on the balance of probabilities”, she had been sexually assaulted by another senior colleague and the Army’s failure to take appropriate action “more than minimally” contributed to her death.

After the hearing, Gunner Beck’s mother Leighann McCready, of Oxen Park, Cumbria, accused the Army of a “cover-up” and called on the Government to make sure complaints by soldiers were dealt with by an external organisation.

Her sister, Emilli Beck, has said that she “feels sick” at the idea that her sister’s complaint was “manipulated” to appear less serious because the Army had its “own interests at heart”.

Warning other women not to sign up, the 25-year-old told The Guardian: “I wouldn’t advise it, going through what we have gone through and learning how these allegations are swept under the carpet.”

She said the alleged sexual assault committed while her sister was at an adventure training event in Thorney Island should not have been dealt with internally.

She said: “It needed to be handled by the police. That could have ultimately left us with Jaysley still here today. I think for that, they’ve got blood on their hands.”

Ms Beck described her sister as “fantastic” and “everything I aspired to be”.

Concluding the Salisbury inquest on Thursday, Mr Rheinberg said there had been a “systemic failure” by the Army to report harassment she suffered at the hands of her manager before her death.

Mr Rheinberg said Gunner Beck had faced the failure of superior officers to take action over the “barrage” of messages sent by her manager Ryan Mason and the failure to fully investigate Gunner Beck’s complaint of sexual assault against Warrant Officer Michael Webber.

He added: “I find there is an arguable case for saying, in relation to Jaysley, the state breached her Article 2 right to life by way of the state failure to put in place a framework of laws, policies, procedures and means of enforcement which will, to the greatest extent, protect life.”

The coroner added that Gunner Beck’s complaint about being sexually assaulted on a stay at Thorney Island “should have been reported to police and the failure to do so breached Army policy”.

Brigadier Melissa Emmett, the head of the Army Personnel Services Group, apologised on behalf of the Army and said: “On behalf of the Chief of the General Staff, I wish to extend the Army’s deepest condolences to Jaysley’s family and friends, and to offer them our sincerest apologies for the failings that the coroner has identified during this inquest.”

Alistair Carns, minister for veterans and people, paid tribute to Gunner Beck and said the Army will now “reflect on the failings identified to learn lessons” from the inquest.

He added that there is “no place for any abuse or unacceptable behaviours within the military”.