Female soldier ‘slept in car after senior officer pinned her down’, inquest told A colleague of teenage soldier Jaysley Beck has told an inquest into her death that she phoned her, “frightened and in tears”, in the middle of the night after she claimed a senior officer had “pinned” her down and tried to kiss her.
The inquest into Gunner Beck’s death has heard that she had made a complaint against a senior officer, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, during a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021 for an adventure training exercise.
The inquest heard that Mr Webber, who is now at Warrant Officer 2 rank, was made subject to a “minor sanction” after Gunner Beck made a complaint and he wrote a letter of apology to her.
The inquest has also heard that Gunner Beck received thousands of messages from another senior colleague, Bombardier Ryan Mason, whom she described as being “psychotic and possessive”.
It detailed three “contributory factors” to Gunner Beck’s death – the “significant strain” of a sexual relationship with a married colleague in the last few weeks of her life; a relationship that ended in November 2021 which involved “repeated allegations of unfaithfulness on the part of the boyfriend”; and an “unhealthy approach to alcohol, with episodes of binge-drinking”.
