Jaysley Beck Inquest: Young soldier's death deemed suicide "partly caused by Army complaints failure"

Jaysley Beck, a 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner, died at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on December 15, 2021. In July of that year, she complained she had been sexually assaulted by a senior colleague during a stay at Thorney Island near Emsworth.

Salisbury Coroners’ Court heard Gunner Beck also complained to her family about the possessive and psychotic” behaviour of her boss, Ryan Mason, a bombardier at the time. Mr Mason sent her 4,600 WhatsApp messages over the preceding two months - speaking of his love of her. The inquest heard the Thorney Island incident involved another senior soldier, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, now of Warrant Officer 2 rank - who the teenager said “pinned her down” while attempting to kiss her.

Gunner Beck was at the base for an adventure training exercise. Nicholas Rheinberg, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, found the complaint was dealt with as a “minor administrative action” instead of being reported to police as a sexual assault, with this being “more than a minimal contributory factor” in her death.

The coroner said despite toxicology tests showing the soldier was three times over legal drink drive limit at the time of her death, he believed she had intended to take her own life. Mr Rheinberg 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.”

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. WO2 Webber, who is married, declined to answer questions at the inquest. Mr Rheinberg said there was an “arguable case” the Army had breached Gunner Beck’s Article 2 right to life under the Human Rights Act. He said this was from the failure of superior officers failing to take action over the “barrage” of messages sent by Mr Mason and the failure to fully investigate the sexual assault complaints against WO2 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 failure to report was a systemic failure, the system was insufficiently robust.” After making his conclusion, the coroner said he would not be preparing a report to prevent future deaths as he had been “reassured” by the Army that “matters are currently under review and revision”.

Referring to the Thorney Island incident, the coroner said: “She was sufficiently terrified to flee the scene (after an incident), hide in the toilets, take refuge in the car and remain on the phone (to her colleague). How Jaysley’s complaint was handled played more than a contributory part in her death.”

A previous inquest heard the claim was Warrant Officer Webber told Gunner Beck he had been “waiting for a moment for them to be alone”, and had engaged her in a drinking game called Last Man Standing before grabbing her leg and trying to kiss her. Court heard she pushed the senior officer away and left the room phoning a friend, having been frightened that the then 39-year-old would come “looking for her”. The inquest was told she was “crying” and locked herself in her car that night, before making a complete to her superiors in the morning.

Discussing the behaviour of Mr Mason, Mr Rheinberg said: “It’s difficult to imagine the extent of the adverse effect that this must have had on Jaysley, a very young woman with problems of her own. Jaysley described the bombardier’s conduct as creepy and ultimately as frightening. Rightly or wrongly she felt he was tracking her by her phone, the bombardier denied this and I find it unlikely.”

The coroner said that he found it “difficult to believe that” Mr Mason had not been manipulating Gunner Beck by demanding her support for his mental health by telling her of his thoughts of self-harm and suicide. The Army said Mr Mason’s actions amounted to “unwelcome sexual attention” and “harassment”, the coroner told the inquest. He added that Gunner Beck’s complaint of WO2 Webber not being reported to the police breached Army policy.

Mr Rheinberg said: “I find on the balance of probabilities that the complaint should not have been dealt with by minor administrative action, by following this route it breached Army policy as it was a sexual assault carried out on a 19-year-old Gunner by a middle-aged man of senior rank and was recorded merely as inappropriate behaviour unbecoming of a warrant officer.”

The inquest previously heard from Brigadier Melissa Emmett, head of the Army personnel services group, who said the force formally accepted failures were made. Brigadier Emmett said on Monday: “We let her down in so many ways for which we have already apologised, and if I can apologise again, for what it’s worth, I would do.” 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.

Mr Rheinberg offered condolences to Gunner Beck’s family, who thanked him for his work and had pictures of her at their tables. The coroner said: “I am sorry I meet you in terrible circumstances, I am pleased that you will have comfort in the strength that you have together.”