Latest news with #JaysleyBeck
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Death of soldier must act as 'wake-up call'
The death of a teenage soldier must act as a "wake-up call" to improve "unacceptable" behaviour within the armed forces, according to a defence minister. Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found hanged in her barracks at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021 following a work Christmas party. A coroner ruled the Army's failure to take action - after Gunner Beck was harassed by her line manager and sexually assaulted by another colleague - had contributed to her suicide. Labour frontbencher Luke Pollard encouraged MPs to support legislation to introduce a new military welfare watchdog to independently investigate complaints. The nine-day inquest into her death, which began at Salisbury Coroner's Court on 10 February, heard how Gunner Beck had repeatedly tried to establish boundaries with her male colleagues but her efforts were ignored. In the two months leading up to her death, Bombardier Ryan Mason sent the 19-year-old more than 4,600 messages confessing his feelings for her. During a separate incident in July 2021, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber allegedly "pinned her down" at a work social and tried to kiss her. When Gunner Beck reported the unwelcome advance from her superior, the complaint was handled by someone who knew the perpetrator, her mother said. Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg ruled the incident "should have been reported to police and the failure to do so breached Army policy". Under the terms of the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill, the independent watchdog would have the power to hear directly from service personnel and family members on the concerns connected with their service. The commissioner would also have the power to demand access to information and service premises to facilitate investigations, and conduct unannounced visits in the UK. Mr Pollard said the legislation would be an opportunity for the defence sector to "properly learn the lessons" following the preventable tragedy. "It really needs to be a wake-up call to recognise that the behaviour within some of our services is unacceptable and we need to make improvements," he said. "It's for that very reason that we need to continue supporting the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill because it enables family members, as well as those people serving in uniform, to raise genuine service welfare complaints with the commissioner. "This won't solve every problem in our armed forces in terms of culture, but it helps support a route for individuals to raise concerns outside the chain of command." Labour Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC he has remained "determined since day one" to protect those who serve. "The Army badly let Jaysley Beck down, and my heart goes out to her family still, after all this time," he said. "We will have zero tolerance as a government, reflected now in the way that the senior military leadership are responding to make sure we can stamp out that sort of behaviour and support those in our ranks. "I really wish, from the bottom of my heart, that we never have another Jaysley Beck case again." The Bill will now return to the House of Lords for further scrutiny. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Ministry of Defence (MOD) Ex-soldier describes Army's 'misogynistic culture' Soldier complained of 'psychotic' boss before her death Soldier's mum says 'no apology will bring her back' Army mishandled sex assault before death - coroner
BBC News
04-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Gunner Jaysley Beck's death must act as 'wake-up call' for Army
The death of a teenage soldier must act as a "wake-up call" to improve "unacceptable" behaviour within the armed forces, according to a defence Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found hanged in her barracks at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021 following a work Christmas party.A coroner ruled the Army's failure to take action - after Gunner Beck was harassed by her line manager and sexually assaulted by another colleague - had contributed to her frontbencher Luke Pollard encouraged MPs to support legislation to introduce a new military welfare watchdog to independently investigate complaints. The nine-day inquest into her death, which began at Salisbury Coroner's Court on 10 February, heard how Gunner Beck had repeatedly tried to establish boundaries with her male colleagues but her efforts were the two months leading up to her death, Bombardier Ryan Mason sent the 19-year-old more than 4,600 messages confessing his feelings for a separate incident in July 2021, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber allegedly "pinned her down" at a work social and tried to kiss Gunner Beck reported the unwelcome advance from her superior, the complaint was handled by someone who knew the perpetrator, her mother Nicholas Rheinberg ruled the incident "should have been reported to police and the failure to do so breached Army policy". Under the terms of the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill, the independent watchdog would have the power to hear directly from service personnel and family members on the concerns connected with their commissioner would also have the power to demand access to information and service premises to facilitate investigations, and conduct unannounced visits in the Pollard said the legislation would be an opportunity for the defence sector to "properly learn the lessons" following the preventable tragedy. "It really needs to be a wake-up call to recognise that the behaviour within some of our services is unacceptable and we need to make improvements," he said. "It's for that very reason that we need to continue supporting the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill because it enables family members, as well as those people serving in uniform, to raise genuine service welfare complaints with the commissioner."This won't solve every problem in our armed forces in terms of culture, but it helps support a route for individuals to raise concerns outside the chain of command." 'Zero tolerance' Labour Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC he has remained "determined since day one" to protect those who serve."The Army badly let Jaysley Beck down, and my heart goes out to her family still, after all this time," he said."We will have zero tolerance as a government, reflected now in the way that the senior military leadership are responding to make sure we can stamp out that sort of behaviour and support those in our ranks."I really wish, from the bottom of my heart, that we never have another Jaysley Beck case again."The Bill will now return to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
BBC News
04-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Jaysley Beck's mum: 'My daughter being silenced helps others find voice'
The mother of a soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted in the Army says other survivors have come to her with "heartbreaking" Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead in her barracks at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021 after a Christmas party.A coroner ruled the Army's failure to take action - after Gunner Beck was harassed by her line manager and sexually assaulted by another colleague - contributed to her McCready said: "Jaysley's voice being silenced has given others the strength to find theirs. That means everything to us." The coroner said the fact the soldier had also been sexually assaulted by another senior colleague, and the Army's failure to take appropriate action, "more than minimally" contributed to Ms Beck's death."It's been very difficult since the inquest," Ms McCready told Stephanie Finnon from BBC Radio Cumbria. Brig Melissa Emmett, head of the Army personnel services group, formally accepted failures were made and previously apologised to Gunner Beck's grieving said "significant changes" had been made within the Army, including the "introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours".But Ms McCready said the apology was not issued personally to her, but she "heard the words on Sky News"."It still doesn't resonate with me. "I thought we'd hear more in regards to the outcome but what I can say that there is a lot more going on in the background, which for legal reasons, I'm not allowed to disclose. "To have faced the abuser, and for him to just say 'no comment, no comment' throughout was difficult for us to listen to a family," Ms McCready, who is from Oxen Park, continued. "It proved what we said from day one. We said it wasn't right, we weren't listened to and it's taken four years for them to say 'we've failed Jaysley Beck'."The Army are trying to make changes, very much too late in all honesty. "The service personnel are still feeling let down by the system in the Army." Ms McCready said since her daughter's story had been shared, "so many people have reached out to us and shared their experience of sexual harassment and assault... it's really heartbreaking. "Jaysley's voice being silenced has given others the strength to find theirs."That means everything to us. "We take comfort in knowing that through her, others are being to speak up and feel seen." Ms McCready and 24 of her daughter's friends and family were raising money for the Centre for Military Justice, she said the group was doing a sky dive "as a stand against the silence that cost my daughter her life"."We won't stop until changes happen," she added. "If my 19-year-old daughter - who was in constant contact with us - was saying there was nowhere else to turn because within the Army you had to go through your chain of command. "We're trying to make changes so the Army cannot mark its own homework." If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story you can find help and support via BBC Action Line here. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- BBC News
Rape 'accepted way of life' say ex-forces women
"When you're in a male-dominated environment, you get spoken about like you're meat. Not as a colleague, a soldier or a friend."Those are the words of a young female soldier who joined the army at 17 - one of a group of women who have spoken to the BBC about their experiences while serving in the British have shared their harrowing stories after 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck took her own life. A coroner found the army's handling of a sexual assault complaint she had made had played "more than a minimal contributory part in her death".Former seaman Jennifer Gibson told us how she had been "devastated" after she says she was raped and sexually assaulted while serving in the Royal Navy. Another woman - who served in the RAF - claims she was dragged into woodland and gang-raped by a group of men, leaving her disabled. The men were found not guilty in a court martial. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the "unacceptable behaviour" reported by the women the BBC had spoken to "has no place in our Armed Forces". Ms Gibson, 50, who lives in Somerset, has waived her anonymity to speak out about her experience in the alleges she was raped while out drinking with a group of colleagues six months into her service, having been recruited in 2004."I felt as you do after being raped; really dirty, horrible, devastated," she said, adding that, at the time, it was an "accepted way of life" in the military, meaning "you've either got to leave or carry on with your career".Ms Gibson, who did not report the attack, claimed that people who alleged sexual assault were discharged prior to the introduction of the Armed Forces Act 2006 - legislation that underpins the justice system in the the following decade, she said there had been many other sexual incidents, many other "really uncomfortable" moments. But they also went unreported, classed as everyday said: "[Men] wouldn't think twice about getting partially undressed, that was normalised, all the abnormal became the normal. It was difficult to deal with." In 2014, she did report a time when she said she was sexually assaulted. There was an investigation and the alleged perpetrator was found not guilty by a court Ms Gibson, the strain had become too much. She was medically discharged from the Navy in 2018 for mental health-related reasons, against her claimed she was ordered to attend a psychiatric hospital where she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, despite her insisting she was well. 'Shameful institution' Another woman who joined the RAF in 1999, who preferred to remain anonymous, described the military as an "archaic" and "shameful" recalled how she had joined her colleagues for a celebratory night out to mark the end of six weeks' training. After returning to base camp, she said she had been struck over the head while walking along to the barracks and dragged into nearby said she had then been gang-raped by a group of six men in uniform."I always believed that I was in the safest place in the world on that camp. All my trust went," the 44-year-old following day, the men were overhead "boasting" about the attack and were reported to the military police sergeant. The victim was later told they had claimed it was "all her idea" to go into the woods."I had my head in my hands, considering what my life had become," she said. "I was in such a mess." The six men were eventually taken to court martial but found not guilty. Meanwhile, she was transferred to a different camp for a fresh start and soon discovered her "cards were already marked"."Everybody was warned about me as if I was a liar, as if I was making it up. I was a fantasist who just liked making complaints," she said."My career was already over because I had reported what happened, and that destroyed me."The experience left the woman suffering from brain damage, epilepsy, memory and speech difficulties, as well as PTSD and chronic depression. She was medically discharged in 2003."I will never advocate for joining the military," she said. "It's a shameful establishment and I think it needs to be fully investigated by a proper outside source." 'Spoken about like meat' Another woman, whom the BBC is not naming due to ongoing legal proceedings, said she had joined the Army as a teenager in search of travel and she was met with relentless "unwanted attention" from her male peers, and said she had not been believed after reporting sexual violence."When you're in a male-dominated environment, you get spoken about like you're meat. Not as a colleague, a soldier or a friend," she said. "You almost become oblivious to it because it's all you're used to." The woman, now in her early 20s, claimed she had been raped by a colleague – who was acquitted at court martial and is still serving - during training in an "abuse of power", she said she was also groomed into a sexual relationship by a sergeant major - the senior welfare officer assigned to her rape woman reported the grooming and the sergeant major was discharged for serious gross she said she had become regarded as the "problem child" by senior officers, some of whom described her as "attention-seeking" and "flirtatious".Due to PTSD symptoms following the alleged rape, military psychiatrists recommended her for medical discharge and she was forced to abandon her "dream career" in 2022."I thought they were there to help me," she said. "Instead, at the back of their minds, all they had were intentions to end my career." 'Punished for reports' Nicole Dodds, women's project lead at female veterans charity Salute Her UK, said many soldiers felt they had been misdiagnosed by military said women were "often" diagnosed with emotional unstable personality disorder. They were then deemed unfit for service and lost their careers."They are having to work alongside their perpetrator, even after reporting it," Ms Dodds continued. "They feel like they are being punished for reporting that crime."In order for victims to trust the judicial process, she said, investigations must "come out of the hands" of the military. A government spokesperson said the current of model of two different judicial systems for civilian and service personnel was under consideration, adding it had a "zero tolerance approach" to sexual MOD spokesperson said the government was creating a new complaints team which would remove "the most serious complaints" from the chain of command for each service for the first said new central taskforce had been set up "to give this issue the attention it deserves".The MoD is also in the process of setting up an independent Armed Forces commissioner who will have the power to visit defence sites unannounced and "to investigate and report to parliament on any welfare matters affecting service life". If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can visit the BBC Action Line to find information and support.
Sky News
19-03-2025
- Sky News
Jaysley Beck: Mother of soldier who took her own life says she has 'sleepless nights' knowing there are still abusers in the Army
The mother of a young soldier who took her own life says she has "sleepless nights" knowing there are abusers still serving in the Army. A coroner ruled that the Army's failure to take action after 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was sexually assaulted by a more senior soldier and harassed by her line manager contributed to her death at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in 2021. One of the men has since left the Army but the other continues to serve. Jaysley Beck's mother, Leighann McCready, believes he has been protected by the Army. "Why should they continue to carry on serving when we're left absolutely heartbroken? We have to deal with this for the rest of our lives and it's not fair. It's absolutely not fair that no action's been taken." Reacting to the announcement that claims of sexual harassment in the Army will be removed from the chain of command and instead dealt with by a new, specialist taskforce, Ms McCready said it was a "step in the right direction" but added that "it should have happened a long time ago". One former soldier described how, after reporting an alleged rape, she discovered the officers dealing with her case had called her a whore. 0:57 Ms McCready praised the hundreds of servicewomen who have spoken out since her daughter's death and urged the Army to root out their abusers. "This causes me sleepless nights to know that they're still serving. It's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking to think this is still going on. "All I want now is for action, for real action to be taken and to continue with the change and continue speaking up". A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said "the Army and MoD have undertaken to carefully analyse and assess all of HM Coroner's findings into the tragic death of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck. "There is no place for bullying, harassment, or discrimination in the military. This government is totally committed to making the reforms that are needed to stamp out inappropriate behaviour and hold people to account." On Tuesday the head of the Army, General Sir Roly Walker, told MPs "I absolutely recognise that we still have work to do. There are some recurring themes which we are addressing. Self-evidently, there continues to be a prevalence of bullying, harassment, and discrimination within our ranks. "We have to recognise that there are some cultural and structural barriers still."
