Jaysley Beck: Army’s handling of sexual assault complaint ‘played part in death’, coroner says
The Army’s failure to properly deal with a soldier’s sexual assault complaint played “more than a minimal” role in her death, a coroner has said.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead in her room at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021.
An inquest today recorded a conclusion of suicide “after a prolonged period of stress after harassment by her line management and problems with a relationship”.
Gunner Beck complained to her family about thousands of unwanted messages from her line manager, Ryan Mason, in the months leading up to her death.
He also wrote a 14-page document detailing his “feelings towards Jaysley” and paid for rooms next to each other during a work trip a week before she died, the inquest heard.
Wiltshire Police told the inquest evidence did not support a harassment case against Mr Mason, who is now a driving instructor.
Gunner Beck also formally complained to the Army about the behaviour of Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, then 39.
She said he’d pinned her down and tried to kiss her after a drinking game during a team-building event in July 2021.
Gunner Beck, who joined the Army at 16, ended up sleeping in her car as she was so scared, the hearing in Salisbury was told.
WO Webber was given a “minor sanction” and wrote an apology letter – but was later promoted to Warrant Officer 2 rank
Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said the Army should have reported the alleged incident to police instead of treating it with a “minor administrative action”.
He said this failure was “more than a minimal contributory factor” in Gunner Beck’s death.
An Army report in October 2023 described “an intense period of unwelcome behaviour” and said it was “almost certain this was a causal factor” in her death.
Gunner Jaysley Beck
Staff Sergeant Cory Budd, who said he’d been in a relationship with Gunner Beck at the time of her death – while he was still married, found her body.
Police concluded there was no third-party involvement.
The coroner said that despite Jaysley being three times over the drink-drive limit when she died, he was satisfied she had still intended to take her own life.
Gunner Beck’s mother, Leighann McCready, attended the inquest with her partner and daughter.
Speaking outside court, she said her Jaysley was “bright”, “fantastic at her job” and exactly what the Army was looking for.
Ms McCready said no apology could bring her back and called for the Army to be stripped of the power to conduct its own investigations into harassment and bullying cases.
She said victims often feel like they can’t speak up and that “no one should have to suffer in silence”.
Jaysley Beck with her mum
‘It’s weighing me down’
Ms McCready had told the court how her daughter “did not feel safe” as the situation with her line manager intensified, with Ryan Mason sending 3,600 messages in November 2021.
In one reply, she wrote: “This whole falling in love with me… it’s becoming a bit too much, I have just come out of a relationship and I’m just not wanting to be involved in anything like this.
“It’s weighing me down a little bit, I’ll be totally honest with you.”
Jaysley Beck
The inquest also heard how Gunner Beck had been too afraid to return to her room after the alleged assault by WO Webber, locking herself in her car and making a complaint in the morning.
A colleague said she had been “frightened and in tears” and described her superior allegedly “waiting for a moment for them to be alone” before pinning her down and trying to kiss her.
Ms McCready said her daughter had been angered by the apology letter – which ended by saying his “door was open” for her.
The Army report said this was “possibly a factor that may have influenced her failure to report other events that happened subsequently”.
Its report also highlighted family issues, including bereavement, as playing a part in Gunner Beck’s death – but her family rejects this.
The Army report outlined three “contributory factors”, including:
- The “significant strain” of a sexual relationship with a married colleague in the last few weeks of her life;
- A relationship which ended in November 2021 which involved “repeated allegations of unfaithfulness on the part of the boyfriend”;
- An “unhealthy approach to alcohol, with episodes of binge drinking”.
WO Webber and Mr Mason declined to answer a number of questions at the inquest relating to their alleged behaviour towards Gunner Beck.
George Higgins, a former sergeant, also declined to answer questions about whether his relationship with Gunner Beck had begun when she was a recruit in Harrogate.
Army: ‘We should have done more’
Brigadier Melissa Emmett, head of the army personnel services group, said it accepts failures were made.
“We let her down in so many ways for which we have already apologised, and if I can apologise again, for what it’s worth, I would do,” she said.
“On a personal level, listening to the doubt and the fear that she had, the good encouragement of her friends to report, but the lack of confidence that they had in reporting, and the well-meaning but erroneous actions of the chain of command, I have found personally very grieving.
“We could have, and we should have, done more.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
Read more:
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Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
British Steel declined to comment.
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
Virginia Giuffre says she has days to live
Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed
He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
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