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A former service sergeant has been sentenced to half a year in prison for committing sexual assault against a teenage servicewoman who later took her own life.

Sergeant Major the former sergeant, in his forties, held down Royal Artillery Gunner the victim and tried to make physical contact in mid-2021. She was discovered deceased five months later in her barracks at Larkhill military installation.

The convicted individual, who was judged at the legal proceedings in Wiltshire recently, will be placed in a civilian prison and listed on sex offenders register for seven years.

The family matriarch Ms. Mcready remarked: "What he [Webber] did, and how the military neglected to defend our young woman afterwards, cost Jaysley her life."

Military Response

The Army stated it did not listen to Gunner Beck, who was a native of Oxen Park in Cumbria, when she disclosed the incident and has said sorry for its handling of her report.

Subsequent to a formal inquiry regarding the tragic death, the accused admitted to the offense of sexual assault in September.

The grieving parent said her daughter ought to have been alongside her loved ones in legal proceedings now, "to observe the person she reported facing consequences for what he did."

"Instead, we stand here without her, facing perpetual grief that no relatives should ever have to face," she stated further.

"She followed the rules, but the accountable parties didn't follow theirs. Those failures shattered our child totally."

PA

Court Proceedings

The judicial body was informed that the violation occurred during an military training at the training location, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in mid-2021.

The accused, a senior officer at the time, made a sexual advance towards the soldier following an evening of drinking while on deployment for a field training.

Gunner Beck testified Webber said he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be in private" before making physical contact, restraining her, and trying to kiss her.

She made official allegations against the accused following the incident, regardless of pressure by military leadership to discourage her.

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

Family Statement

In a statement read out to the court previously, the mother, said: "Our daughter had recently celebrated 19 and will eternally stay a young person full of energy and happiness."

"She trusted individuals to protect her and following the assault, the faith was gone. She was deeply distressed and scared of the accused."

"I saw the difference before my own eyes. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That incident shattered her faith in the system that was intended to protect her."

Sentencing Remarks

During sentencing, The presiding judge Alan Large said: "We have to consider whether it can be addressed in a different manner. We do not believe it can."

"We are satisfied the severity of the violation means it can only be resolved by incarceration."

He told the convicted individual: "She had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and directed you to leave the area, but you carried on to the degree she believed she would remain in danger from you despite the fact she retreated to her personal quarters."

He added: "The following day, she reported the incident to her family, her friends and her commanding officers."

"After the complaint, the unit opted to address your behavior with light disciplinary measures."

"You were subject to inquiry and you admitted your behavior had been improper. You prepared a apology note."

"Your career continued without interruption and you were in due course promoted to higher rank."

Additional Context

At the formal inquiry into the soldier's suicide, the official examiner said Capt James Hook influenced her to cease proceedings, and just informed it to a higher command "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the period, Webber was given a "minimal consequence discussion" with no serious repercussions.

The inquiry was additionally informed that only a short time after the assault the soldier had additionally been subjected to "persistent mistreatment" by a separate individual.

A separate service member, her commanding individual, transmitted to her more than 4,600 text messages expressing emotions for her, accompanied by a fifteen-page "romantic narrative" detailing his "fantasies about her."

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Institutional Response

The Army said it offered its "deepest sympathies" to Gunner Beck and her relatives.

"We remain profoundly sorry for the shortcomings that were discovered at the formal investigation in February."

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