Senior Army officers ‘tried to play down & cover up sexual assault’ of soldier, 19, five months before she took own life

A TEEANGE soldier was “let down” by two officers who tried to cover up her sexual assault by a superior five months before she took her own life, a court heard. Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was discovered dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on December 15, 2021. Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck who was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in December 2021. Credit: PA Jaysley had filed a complaint against Batter Sergeant Major Michael Webber after he pinned her down and tried to kiss her Credit: PA She had filed a complaint against Batter Sergeant Major Michael Webber in July 2021, after he pinned her down and tried to kiss her. Webber, who has now left the Army, was jailed for six months last October after admitting one count of sexual assault. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The teenager told two officers “enough to understand that she may have been sexually assaulted”, prosecutors have told a court martial. Colonel Samantha Shepherd and Major James Hook are on trial accused of “conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline”. Both senior officers allegedly “let down” Jaysley when she told them about an incident which happened on a Royal Artillery adventure training exercise in Chicester Harbour, Hampshire. Commander Paul Patterson, prosecuting, told the board Jaysley told both officers about behaviour towards her by Webber at a social event during the exercise. 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 been sexually assaulted”. The prosecutor said Maj Hook, who was a captain at the time and was running the exercise, did not treat the information he was given by Jaysley “in a manner consistent with its seriousness” and Cpl Shepherd “deliberately misreported what she had been told”. Most read in The Sun Major James Hook (L) and Col Samantha Shepherd (C) are accused of conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline Credit: PA Both senior officers “let down” Jaysley when she told them about an incident Credit: Family Handout In his opening statement, the prosecutor said Webber, Jaysley and Lance Corporal Drew Tudor were drinking together until the early hours of the morning of July 13. The following morning L/Cpl Tudor found Jaysley asleep in her car and she told him about what happened with Webber. Cdr Patterson said the lance corporal fetched Maj Hook who got in the car and Jaysley repeated what she had said. The prosecutor said Maj Hook and Jaysley then went on a walk and the officer gave the teenager until noon to decide whether she wanted to make a complaint. Jaysley was found dead five months after she made the complaint Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Jaysley told two officers “enough to understand that she may have been sexually assaulted” Credit: PA Cdr Patterson said of Maj Hook’s actions that “far from empowering her (Gunner Beck), this could be seen as leaning on her”. He said Maj Hook later phoned a more senior officer back at the barracks to say Webber had “made a pass” at Jaysley. Cdr Patterson said Cpl Shepherd discussed the incident later with Jaysley 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 Webber had touched her, or attempted to touch her. Cdr Patterson said that Cpl Shepherd failed to mention the touching, or attempted touching allegation even when questioned by the captain, saying there was “no contact”. How to get help EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers. It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes. And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women. Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now. If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support: CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858 Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk HUMEN www.wearehumen.org Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393 Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123 The prosecutor said that the colonel “edited the information” when she “should have told the truth”. In a prepared statement given to military police, Cpl Shepherd said she believed she had disclosed the touching allegation to Capt King but could not be sure, Cdr Patterson said. L/Cpl Tudor, who worked with Jaysley on the Corp Engagement Team (CET), said she was “distressed” and “visibly shaken” when he found her in her car the morning after the incident. L/Cpl Tudor told the hearing he had been drinking at a social event the night before and went to bed at about 3am. Michael Webber was jailed for six months and is no longer in the military Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Jaysley was said to have been ‘distressed’ and ‘visibly shaken’ after the incident Credit: Courtesy of Leighann McCready He said Jaysley and Webber were still up, but there was “no incline that anything was going on”. The next morning, Jaysley was not in her accommodation and he found her asleep in her car, the hearing was told. L/Cpl Tudor said: “When she woke up I spoke to her. She was immediately quite distressed, she cried and she just seemed visibly shaken. “She explained (Webber) had tried something on with her, I don’t have the exact details of what she specifically said.” He told the hearing: “I wanted to pass this on because this was something that clearly should not have taken place.” L/Cpl Tudor said Jaysley agreed to let him pass it up the chain of command, and he told Maj Hook that “something had happened”. He said the three of them had a conversation in Jaysley’s car, where she repeated what she had told him to Maj Hook, who was then a captain. L/Cpl Tudor said the first time he was asked about the incident after that was at a service inquiry in 2022. He told the court martial he could not remember now whether Jaysley had said Webber touched, or tried to touch her. A statement from Major Richard Lupton, who was Jaysley’s senior line manager, said he was not on the retreat but was told by Maj Hook that an incident of “inappropriate behaviour had been reported”. He said: “My understanding was that Gunner Beck did not want to take this matter public, and to keep it discreet as much as possible. “She chose the option of a letter of apology.” Maj Lupton’s statement said he delivered the letter from Webber to Jaysley and she was “very content with what had been written”. Capt King, who is now a major, told the court how Cpl Shepherd came to see her and told her about an incident “where Mr Webber had made an inappropriate pass at Gunner Beck”. Giving evidence, Maj King said the colonel told her: “Mr Webber leaned forward in an attempt to kiss Gunner Beck, and that Gunner Beck had leant back so that the kiss had not occurred. “And that, following this, Mr Webber had said something along the lines of ‘do you not fancy it?’, and that Gunner Beck had said that she didn’t and had left the bar.” Maj King said: “I confirmed that he hadn’t kissed her, that he hadn’t touched her and it had been an attempt as opposed to an act.” The major outlined a range of consultations she made, including with the Royal Military Police (RMP), before making a recommendation to Cpl Shepherd about a course of action based on what the colonel had told her. Maj Hook and Cpl Shepherd, who sat with their barristers in the court room, have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline. Nicholas Rheinberg, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, previously ruled Jaysley died by suicide following Webber’s sex attack, after she was found hanged in her barracks. He also said the complaint “should have been reported to police and the failure to do so breached Army policy”.