Nobody has a bad word to say about Gunner Jaysley Beck.
She was a bright, happy, gregarious teenager who lit up every room she walked into. She was good at her job, confident, inspirational.
But after joining the army at the ago of 16, Jaysley found herself trapped in a brutal, toxic environment where sexualised behaviour to young junior female soldiers was endemic and there was too little support and backing from the chain of command.
By the time she was found dead in December 2021 aged 19, Jaysley had allegedly been sexually assaulted by a battery sergeant major during an adventure exercise.
When Jaysley complained, the investigation was botched and, a few months later when she was subject to a barrage of unwanted attention from her line manager, she did not raise it, fearing she would be seen as a mischief-maker.
Jaysley also had two consensual relationships with soldiers – but both are troubling as they were with men who were significantly older and more senior in rank. One was married, which worried Jaysley deeply, while the other cheated on her.
The teenager’s family hope her inquest, which has been heard in Salisbury this month, will lead to real change in how women and children (Jaysley was a child when she joined) are treated in the armed forces and how their complaints are investigated.
Emma Norton, founder of the Centre for Military Justice and a lawyer for Jaysley’s family, said that despite repeated promises by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to improve conditions for women, it was clear abuse continued.
During Jaysley’s inquest, dozens of female soldiers have described their experiences on the Fill Your Boots social media account, prompting the head of the army, Gen Sir Roly Walker, to express how “disgusted” he was at what was still going on.
Norton said: “The sheer volume of these posts suggests that this is not a problem of the past. Several of Jaysley’s friends gave evidence during the inquest about the continuing problems facing women in the army, in particular gross misogynistic language and behaviours that are still being experienced.”
She said the way complaints were investigated needed to be changed to stop terrible behaviour being swept under the carpet. “The service complaints process doesn’t work. It’s not independent. It’s run by the service concerned,” she said.
There have long been calls for fundamental reform of the complaints system. Two major reviews, in 2019 and 2021, called for a central service complaints team.
But Norton said: “The MoD is still not willing to countenance the independent handling of serious service complaints. They keep tinkering with the process, but it’s still the army investigating the army and they are marking their own homework.”
Jaysley joined the army in March 2019 and undertook junior entry basic training at the army foundation college in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
Shortly after she graduated she began a relationship with one of her instructors, George Higgins, who was eight years older. During the inquest he refused to say when he first had sex with Jaysley.
Jaysley was posted to 47th Regiment Royal Artillery (RA), based at the Larkhill camp in Wiltshire, and in February 2021 was selected to serve in the corps engagement team, which travels around the UK promoting the army as a career.
In July while on an adventure exercise in Hampshire, Battery Sgt Maj Michael Webber, who was 39 at the time, allegedly pinned Jaysley down and tried to kiss her during a drink-fuelled social event. She was so frightened she spent the night locked in her car.
A junior officer found her and reported it to the RA’s regimental headquarters. Webber was dealt with by “a minor administrative action” and wrote Jaysley a letter of apology, which he ended by saying his “door was open” for her.
During the inquest Maj James Hook, who organised the exercise, said he had known Jaysley was not enjoying the event and thought she might have been trying to “generate a situation” where she would be sent back to Larkhill.
Col Samantha Shepherd, who was the regimental colonel for the RA, concluded the allegation was of “unwelcome attention, inappropriate contact” rather than of sexual assault. She told the inquest: “I know now that it constitutes a sexual assault but I didn’t know it at the time.”
By the autumn of 2021 Jaysley’s line manager, Bdr Ryan Mason, appeared to have become fixated with her. In October and November he sent her almost 5,000 messages and voicemails, telling her: “You’re stuck with me for ever.”
She considered him “psychotic and possessive” but was reluctant to report him. At this time she was also fretting over her relationship with SSgt Cory Budd, who was married.
Friends of Jaysley’s – male and female – were aghast at how she had been treated.
A male friend said her “flaw” was that she was “pretty”, which made her a constant target. A female colleague said Jaysley was “beautiful”, so she was bound to get harassment and “disgusting comments” from male soldiers.
At the end of 2021, Jaysley had been keen to get away from camp for Christmas and had placed presents for her family in her car boot.
In the early hours of 15 December 2021 after a party in her block, she sent a WhatsApp message to a relative, telling him she loved him. That afternoon, Jaysley’s body was found in her first-floor room.
• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
