Tragic female soldier, 19, didn’t want to report her male boss’ relentless sexual harassment to military top brass in case she was branded a ‘troublemaker’, her mother reveals – as she blasts Army for ‘taking a long time to be heard and understood’
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A teenage soldier who tragically took her own life after a male commanding officer subjected her to relentless sexual harassment did not report him to avoid being seen as a ‘female troublemaker’, her mother revealed today.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck, 19, killed herself after an ‘intense period of unwelcome behaviour’ from a superior who now faces being discharged from the Army, an official investigation into her death has found.
Despite the damning findings, the officer – who held the rank of Bombardier – has been granted anonymity, and a copy of the report released to the public has been heavily redacted – obscuring a series of key details.
The report includes a series of texts Gunner Beck sent to the senior officer – her immediate boss – which provide a harrowing insight into her declining mental state and desperate attempts to stop him harassing her.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour today, her mother Leighann McCready said: ‘She showed us the messages four days before her passing. As a parent it puts you in a difficult position because you just want to go and pick them up from work.
‘But unfortunately the military doesn’t work like that. We could only advise, offer reassurance and support and try to encourage our daughter to report it. However, Jaysley said she didn’t want to be branded as a female troublemaker.’
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck, 19, killed herself after an ‘intense period of unwelcome behaviour’ from a superior
The report includes a series of texts Gunner Beck sent to the – her immediate boss – which provide a harrowing insight into her declining mental state and desperate attempts to stop him harassing her
Ms McCready said her daughter initially got on ‘extremely well’ in the Army before, in July 2021, she told them she had been sexually assaulted by another senior colleague, who held the rank of Warrant Officer.
She also explained how the Bombardier continued to give her unwanted attention and display intense jealousy when she interacted with other male colleagues.
Ms McCready said the final contact she had with her daughter was on December 14 – the night before her death.
She recalled: ‘The last exchange was late at night when she was enjoying time with her friends. She was sending us videos, which she always did. It was Christmas and she was having lots of fun.
‘Me and my eldest daughter had concerns on the morning of the 15th when I tried to speak to Jaysley. There was still no response from her later in the day so I became extremely worried.’
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Criticising the Army for the way it had dealt with her daughter, she continued: ‘It would be nice for people to be heard and action to be taken. People just want to be listened to, and unfortunately they’re not.
‘It took us a long time to be heard, and that shouldn’t have been the case. It took a long time to be heard and understood.’
The report included details of texts Gunner Beck sent her superior in a desperate attempt to stop him harassing her.
In November 2021, the teenager’s superior sent her more than 3,500 WhatsApp messages and voicemails in which he described how much he craved a relationship with her. At one point Gunner Beck drafted a message calling the officer ‘possessive and psychotic’.
The report also highlights missed opportunities to prevent the tragedy. On December 9, less than a week before she passed, Gunner Beck apparently suffered a ‘severe panic attack’.
She also described ‘suicidal feelings’ to a colleague, who subsequently gave evidence to the inquiry, and discussed how she was suffering from ‘night terrors’.
On November 15, Gunner Beck messaged the man: ‘You can’t keep doing this to me… I’ve just got out of a relationship & now I feel like I’m in one again.’
By early the next month, Gunner Beck’s tolerance for his relentless harassment had reached a limit and she texted him to say: ‘It’s not normal how you feel… but I can’t be there to support you with it because the way you feel for me is the main issue & I can’t handle it anymore’ and ‘it’s weighing me down.’
On December 7, she asked to be removed from a task that evening because she could no longer cope with his behaviour towards her.
In a message she had drafted she described his thoughts towards her as ‘possessive and psychotic’, although she later deleted the words.
In the text she did send she described feeling trapped by his actions and said she had spoken to her family about the situation and they were worried.
The conduct of Gunner Beck’s immediate boss was ‘almost certain’ to be a ‘causal factor’ in her death at Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire in December 2021, a report found
Her mother Leighann McCready (pictured) spoke to the BBC about her daughter’s experience
Her message explained she had been reduced to tears, adding: ‘The truth is I’m struggling to deal with all this, it’s taking a huge toll on my mental health for many potential reasons. I need time out.’
The conduct of Gunner Beck’s immediate boss was ‘almost certain’ to be a ‘causal factor’ in her death at Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire in December 2021, the report found. An Army investigation said her boss wanted to start a sexual relationship with Ms Beck, who told him she was already with someone and did not reciprocate his feelings.
The report concluded: ‘Mental wellbeing warning signs were clearly present in the weeks before her death but these were missed, most likely due to insufficient awareness of mental health matters among the personnel to whom she was known.
READ MORE: Armed forces launch new crackdown on sexual harassment in the military after two Red Arrows pilots are axed for ‘inappropriate behaviour’
‘Some witnesses also stated they thought there was still a stigma attached to seeking help for mental health problems in the Army.’
Another male soldier, who is said to have sexually assaulted Gunner Beck on a night out, has already been punished.
The sexual allegation was reported to army chiefs by one of Gunner Beck’s colleagues and resulted into the perpetrator receiving a minor sanction and writing her an apology letter.
The punishment apparently seemed lenient to Gunner Beck and may have influenced her decision not to subsequently report her boss for sending thousands of unsolicited messages.
The report says that on December 9, less than a week before she died, Gunner Beck apparently suffered a ‘severe panic attack’. She also described ‘suicidal feelings’ to a colleague, who subsequently gave evidence to the inquiry.
An Army investigation said her boss wanted to start a sexual relationship with Ms Beck, who told him she was already with someone and did not reciprocate his feelings.
His misconduct included controlling behaviour, bombarding her with thousands of text messages and phone calls and attempting to ensure they were always working together.
The report said: ‘This behaviour stems from the fact that it appears he wanted a relationship with her and had developed feelings for her which were not reciprocated.
‘While this behaviour ended the week before her death, it appears that it continued to affect her and had taken a significant toll on her mental resilience and well-being.
‘The panel’s assessment of the evidence was that it is almost certain that this was a causal factor in her death.’
Gunner Beck joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery, which is headquartered at Larkhill, at 16
An Army inquiry into her death heard evidence from witnesses about inappropriate sexual behaviour by male soldiers towards their female colleagues at Larkhill
The report also notes she was having an affair with a married Royal Artillery soldier who held a much higher rank.
It concludes that maintaining secrecy around that relationship ‘affected her state of mind and was likely to have been a contributory factor’. This SNCO (Senior Non-Commissioned Officer) socialised with Gunner Beck on the night she took her life and her mood was said to have plummeted when he left the Christmas party.
Gunner Beck had joined the Army in 2019 aged just 16. She began recruit training at the Army Foundation College (AFC) at Harrogate before joining 47 Regiment, Royal Artillery.
An Army inquiry into her death heard evidence from witnesses about inappropriate sexual behaviour by male soldiers towards their female colleagues at Larkhill.
The report says: ‘It was commonplace among a significant minority of soldiers within Larkhill Garrison.’
One witness described routinely receiving comments from male soldiers that she described as ‘vile’ and ‘degrading’.
The report says measures to tackle this kind of behaviour were introduced as part of a new policy for the armed forces in November 2022.
Larkhill Barracks near Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. A report into Gunner Beck’s death said that a ‘significant minority’ of male soldiers would engage in sexually inappropriate behaviour
An Army inquiry into her death heard evidence from witnesses about inappropriate sexual behaviour by male soldiers towards their female colleagues at Larkhill
The report into Gunner Beck’s death found she had no diagnosed mental-health conditions and had not sought welfare support from anyone in the Army
Ms Cready regrets her daughter’s career choice having approved her request to join the Army aged 16.
For years top brass have been desperate to clamp down on sexual abuse and sexual harassment in the ranks, seemingly with little success.
The report follows an inquest into the death of a woman officer cadet, Olivia Perks, 21, who killed herself at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
A coroner heard how Ms Perks, 21, took her own life just days after a significantly older male instructor spent the night with her. He was subsequently dismissed from the Army.
It is rare for the Army to admit that sexual harassment was a significant factor in the death of a soldier. It follows a damning report into the day to day experiences of women in the military drawn up by MPs.
While last year the Mail revealed how female members of the RAF’s Red Arrows aerobatic display team were subjected to sexual abuse and harassment by male colleagues.
A female submariner also revealed her shocking ordeal aboard a Royal Navy vessel, which included male sailors listing which female crew members they would rape if oxygen levels aboard the submarine were running out.
The report into Gunner Beck’s death found she had no diagnosed mental-health conditions and had not sought welfare support from anyone in the Army.
An Army spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck’s family and friends at this difficult time,’ adding that it would be inappropriate to comment further until after the inquest.
Gunner Beck was found dead after a party ten days before Christmas.
Gunner Beck’s family said she was a ‘loving and caring person who would go above and beyond to help anyone in a less fortunate position than herself’
Gunner Beck with her family. Her mother said that the 19-year-old had a ‘really lovely aura about her’
Gunner Beck, from Oxen Park in Cumbria, joined the Army at 16 and had been proud to be a soldier – but her family say she withdrew into herself as the campaign of harassment at the hands of her direct line manager escalated.
The superior sent her more than 1,000 messages in October 2021, rising to more than 3,500 the following month, shortly before she died.
In a message reportedly seen by the inquiry, she had written: ‘The truth is, I’m struggling to deal with all this.’
Her family later paid tribute to her while raising money for charity in her memory, writing: ‘Jaysley is a loving and caring person who would go above and beyond to help anyone in a less fortunate position than herself.’
Aspects of the inquiry, as reported by the BBC, suggest that inappropriate sexual behaviour was ‘commonplace amongst a significant minority’ of male soldiers at Larkhill, where Gunner Beck was based.
In 2022, an Army instructor based at Larkhill was sacked after buying ‘impressionable young recruits’ bottles of vodka and whiskey liqueur and asking another to ‘get up and walk’ so he could ‘look at her a***’.
Britain’s armed forces are cracking down on sexual harassment after bringing in new ‘zero tolerance’ rules last year
It is understood that Gunner Beck’s case is now being investigated by both civilian and military police forces. The Centre for Military Justice, which is supporting the family, branded her story ‘appalling’ in a tweet yesterday.
Britain’s armed forces are cracking down on sexual harassment after bringing in new ‘zero tolerance’ rules last year.
MoD sources insist there is ‘no place’ for sexual harassment and assault in the military, and say efforts are being made to encourage victims to report it.
Soldiers will be punished if they engage in acts of harassment such as cat-calling, inappropriate touching, ‘lewd’ comments, winking and ‘leering’ at squadmates.
The rules will apply across the Army, Navy and the RAF, and come after a landmark defence committee report found that nearly 62 per cent of female service personnel experienced bullying, harassment and discrimination.
MPs also found that servicewomen were more than ten times as likely to experience sexual harassment as their male counterparts.
The report concluded: ‘Mental wellbeing warning signs were clearly present in the weeks before her death but these were missed.
‘Other parts of the military culture of the Armed Forces show it is still a man’s world.’
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