A coroner has weighed in on the death of Jaysley Beck, a 19-year-old soldier who was found dead after being sexually assaulted by her superior.
The coroner concluded that the sergeant played ‘more than a minimal part in her death'.
Her body was discovered in December 2021 at the barracks of her British army base in Wiltshire, UK.
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This came months after she had made a formal complaint about the behavior of a colleague.
The inquest heard how Gunner Beck had filed a complaint against Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber in July 2021, after an adventure training exercise at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire.
The 19-year-old also reportedly told a friend that 'something happened that night.'
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In the inquest, according to a PA report, Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said “I find on the balance of probabilities that the complaint should not have been dealt with by minor administrative action, by following this route it breached Army policy as it was a sexual assault carried out on a 19-year-old Gunner by a middle-aged man of senior rank and was recorded merely as inappropriate behaviour unbecoming of a warrant officer.”
In addition to this, the coroner reflected on the alleged ‘intense period of unwelcome behavior’ she received from her line manager, bombardier Ryan Mason.
The coroner explained Mason had sent 1,000 messages to Gunner Beck in October 2021 and 3,600 in November.
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Rheinberg said: “It’s difficult to imagine the extent of the adverse effect that this must have had on Jaysley, a very young woman with problems of her own.
“Jaysley described the bombardier’s conduct as creepy and ultimately as frightening.
“Rightly or wrongly she felt he was tracking her by her phone, the bombardier denied this and I find it unlikely.”
The youngster reportedly became 'freaked out' by her 'obsessive' and 'psychotic' boss', exacerbated by the bombardment of messages.
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The inquest further heard there are three more 'contributory factors' to her death, including the 'significant strain' of a relationship with a married colleague, an 'unfaithful' previous partnership and an 'unhealthy approach to alcohol' and 'binge-drinking'.
Summing up the inquest,Rheinberg said: “She was sufficiently terrified to flee the scene (after an incident), hide in the toilets, take refuge in the car and remain on the phone (to her colleague).”
He added: “How Jaysley’s complaint was handled played more than a contributory part in her death.”
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Gerrard Kaonga