'New determination' to protect women in military

Jaysley Beck took her own life after she was sexually assaulted by a senior colleague

The UK defence secretary has said there is "new determination" to ensure the military protects women after a former Army sergeant was jailed for sexually assaulting a teenage soldier who later took her own life.

Gunner Jaysley Beck was found dead in her barracks at Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire, in 2021 after Warrant Officer Michael Webber pinned her down and tried to kiss her.

Leighann McCready, Gunner Beck's mother, previously told the BBC that young women should not join the Army because of a lack of protection.

Since Gunner Beck's death, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it has set up a serious crime command and launched a taskforce to end violence against women and girls.

More recently it agreed in principle to remove the handling of serious complaints from each of the individual branches of the UK military.

Defence Secretary John Healey said Gunner Beck's loss was still felt "very deeply" in the Army and new leadership would make sure the military would "never again" fail someone in her position.

Armed Forces Minister Al Carns added: "I think the Gunner Beck case was a horrendous failing of the system.

"What I can tell you is in the last several years there's been lots of changes, in the last year we've really made a proactive move to create the correct systems so no woman ever feels alone again in defence," he added.

Leighann McCready (R) said there is no protection for female Army recruits

Their comments come days after Ms McCready told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Army failed to protect recruits.

"Evidence has shown through our own daughter that the protection is not there," she said.

"And until policies are properly changed, I wouldn't recommend anybody joining the Army because they protect themselves and not the soldiers, and that's what happened to our daughter Jaysley."

Ms McCready added that she was still being "inundated" with stories from soldiers and their families saying "this is still happening" and urging her to "keep fighting".

The Army failed to take appropriate action after Gunner Beck raised a complaint against Webber, an inquest found

Webber, a 43-year-old former senior non-commissioned officer, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting Gunner Beck after the inquest into her death.

On Friday, he was jailed for six months and added to the sex offenders register for seven years.

The inquest heard that he engaged Gunner Beck in a drinking game before touching her thigh and trying to kiss her.

She pushed him away and spent the night locked in her car before raising a complaint to her superiors in the morning.

The incident was not reported to police and Webber wrote a letter of apology to Gunner Beck. He was later promoted.

The coroner ruled that the sexual assault and the Army's failure to take appropriate action "more than minimally" contributed to her death.

Maj Gen Jon Swift, assistant chief of the General Staff, said the Army was "sorry we didn't listen to Jaysley when she first reported her assault".

"We are determined to make sure the same mistakes don't happen again," he added.

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