Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was 'let down' by senior Army officers who tried to cover up a sexual assault on her before she took her own life, court hears

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 13:55 EDT, 15 September 2026 | Updated: 14:04 EDT, 15 September 2026 A teenage soldier was ‘let down’ by two senior officers when she reported a sexual assault months before taking her own life, a court martial has heard.Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, told Colonel Samantha Shepherd and Major James Hook that she may have been sexually assaulted during a social event at a training exercise in July 2021 but the pair did not treat the matter seriously and encouraged her to drop the allegation, it is claimed.A court martial at Catterick Garrison, North Yorks, heard that Colonel Shepherd tried to suppress details of the assault to avoid the involvement of the service police in her Royal Artillery regiment, while Major Hook ‘leant’ on the junior soldier so she would not make an official complaint.Gunner Beck was found dead at her barracks in Wiltshire in December 2021 five months after reporting the sexual assault.Col Shepherd and Maj Hook are on trial accused of ‘conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline.’The court heard that Gunner Beck was found in her car early in the morning of July 13 2021 in an upset state after the incident at a social event during an adventure training exercise at Thorney Island in Hampshire.She told Maj Hook, who was leading the training course, that Warrant Officer Michael Webber, 43, had tried to kiss her and touched her leg in a sexual manner.The matter was then taken to Col Shepherd, the regimental colonel of the Royal Artillery at the time. Gunner Jaysley Beck was found dead in her barracks in Wiltshire in December 2021 A court artist's drawing showing Major James Hook (left) and Colonel Samantha Shepherd (centre) appearing at the Military Court Centre at Catterick Garrison on TuesdayCommander Paul Patterson, prosecuting, told a board of three senior officers - an RAF air commodore, Navy captain and Army colonel - how the allegations made by Gunner Beck were not treated seriously enough.He said: ‘The prosecution case is that she told each of them about an incident that had happened… and she told each of them enough to understand that she may have been sexually assaulted.’The prosecutor said Maj Hook, who was a captain at the time, did not treat the information he was given by Gunner Beck ‘in a manner consistent with its seriousness’ and Col Shepherd ‘deliberately misreported what she had been told.’In his opening statement, the prosecutor said that Warrant Officer Webber, Gunner Beck and Lance Corporal Drew Tudor were drinking together until the early hours of the morning of July 13. The following morning Lance Corporal Tudor found Gunner Beck asleep in her car and she told him about what happened with Warrant Officer Webber.Cdr Patterson said the lance corporal went to speak to Maj Hook who got in the car and Gunner Beck repeated what she had said. The prosecutor said Major Hook and Gunner Beck then went on a walk and the officer gave the teenager until noon to decide whether she wanted to make a complaint.Cdr Patterson said of his actions: ‘Far from empowering her, this could be seen as leaning on her.’It is alleged the senior officer tried to discourage Gunner Beck by telling her that Webber would ‘almost certainly’ get into trouble if she made an official complaint.The prosecutor added: ‘He said it was to make her aware. He accepts he was sceptical because he knew she did not want to be on the training exercise and he thought she may be lying.’ He said Maj Hook later spoke to a more senior officer at the barracks to say Warrant Officer Webber had ‘made a pass’ at Gunner Beck.Cdr Patterson said Col Shepherd discussed the incident later with Gunner Beck but then deliberately failed to pass on information to Captain Mae King – the adjutant at the 14 Regiment Royal Artillery, which is responsible for discipline – that the young soldier alleged Warrant Officer Webber had touched her, or attempted to touch her.‘It is simply not possible that Colonel Shepherd forgot to pass on the detail of the touching, that is not credible,’ Cdr Patterson said.The court also heard how Gunner Beck was later given a letter of apology written by her attacker.Colonel Shepherd and Major Hook each deny one charge of conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline, contrary to section 19 of the Armed Forces Act 2006.The trial continues.