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A former service sergeant has been sentenced to 180 days in prison for attacking a teenage servicewoman who later took her own life.

Sergeant Major the former sergeant, 43, held down Royal Artillery Gunner the victim and tried to make physical contact in mid-2021. She was discovered deceased several months after in her military accommodation at the Wiltshire base.

The defendant, who was given his punishment at the Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire recently, will be transferred to a correctional facility and listed on offender database for multiple years.

The victim's mother the mother remarked: "What he [Webber] did, and how the Army failed to protect our daughter afterwards, cost Jaysley her life."

Military Response

The Army acknowledged it ignored the servicewoman, who was originally from Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she reported the assault and has said sorry for its handling of her complaint.

Following an inquest into the tragic death, the defendant confessed to one count of physical violation in September.

The mother said her daughter could have been present with her family in court this day, "to see the individual she accused facing consequences for the assault."

"Conversely, we are present missing her, living a life sentence that no loved ones should ever experience," she continued.

"She adhered to protocols, but the accountable parties didn't follow theirs. Those failures destroyed our daughter totally."

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Judicial Process

The court was advised that the violation happened during an military training at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in mid-2021.

The sergeant, a Sergeant Major at the time, attempted physical intimacy towards the servicewoman subsequent to an evening of drinking while on assignment for a training exercise.

Gunner Beck claimed the accused remarked he had been "waiting for a moment for them to be in private" before grabbing her leg, pinning her down, and attempting to force intimacy.

She filed a complaint against the accused subsequent to the incident, despite attempts by superiors to persuade her not to.

A formal investigation into her death found the armed forces' response of the report played "an important contributory part in her suicide."

Parent's Account

In a testimony shared to the tribunal earlier, the mother, expressed: "She had only become nineteen and will forever remain a young person full of life and laughter."

"She trusted authorities to safeguard her and after what he did, the trust was shattered. She was deeply distressed and terrified of the sergeant."

"I observed the transformation firsthand. She felt helpless and deceived. That violation destroyed her trust in the system that was intended to look after her."

Sentencing Remarks

When announcing the verdict, Judge Advocate General Alan Large remarked: "We need to assess whether it can be handled in a different manner. We are not convinced it can."

"We conclude the severity of the crime means it can only be addressed by incarceration."

He told Webber: "The servicewoman had the courage and good sense to instruct you to cease and directed you to leave the area, but you continued to the degree she felt she would remain in danger from you despite the fact she retreated to her assigned barracks."

He continued: "The next morning, she made the complaint to her family, her companions and her commanding officers."

"Following the report, the unit opted to address your behavior with minimal consequences."

"You underwent questioning and you admitted your behavior had been unacceptable. You prepared a written apology."

"Your professional path proceeded unimpeded and you were subsequently elevated to higher rank."

Background Information

At the formal inquiry into the soldier's suicide, the official examiner said a commanding officer pressured her to withdraw the complaint, and only reported it to a military leadership "once details became known."

At the time, the sergeant was given a "light disciplinary meeting" with no further consequences.

The inquiry was additionally informed that only a short time after the violation the servicewoman had also been facing "persistent mistreatment" by a different service member.

Another soldier, her line manager, transmitted to her numerous digital communications declaring attachments for her, in addition to a 15-page "love story" detailing his "fantasies about her."

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Organizational Reaction

The military leadership said it offered its "heartfelt apologies" to the soldier and her relatives.

"We continue to be profoundly sorry for the failings that were noted at the official inquiry in winter."

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