By Grâçia Ada Obi
The grieving mother of a teen soldier who took her own life after a senior comrade sexually assaulted her slammed the British Army on Friday October 31, 2025 after he was jailed for just six months.
Warrant Officer Michael Webber, 43, previously pleaded guilty to abusing 19 year-old Gunner Jaysley Beck, months before she took her life, during a stay at Thorney Island, Hants, in 2021.
After hearing the sentencing her brave mother Leighann McCready delivered a stark message to recruits, telling them: “Don’t join the Army.”
It was a devastating indictment of a military already suffering from recruitment issues as Ms Mcready called for systemic change before more recruits sign-up.
Outside Bulford Military Court Centre, in Wiltshire, Ms Cready told how her family is now suffering “a life sentence.”
Flanked by loved-ones she said: “No sentence would be good enough. What he did and how the Army failed to protect her afterwards cost our daughter her life. Jaysley was just 19, a beautiful, bright and confident girl.
“She did everything right but was failed by the system that was meant to support and protect her. I cannot even describe the heartache that it’s brought upon us all.
“Our soldiers deserve a system they can trust, one that protects them and values their lives above its own reputation.”
She told soldiers with similar complaints was: “Come to me. Message me. I will help any soldier.”
Warrant Officer Webber appeared before the court on Friday 31 October and was sentenced by the Judge Advocate General Alan Large.
Webber engaged Gunner Beck in a drinking game called Last Man Standing, touching her thigh and trying to kiss her.
Gunner Beck rejected Webber, then a 39-year-old Battery Sergeant Major, and locked herself in her car before complaining to superiors in the morning.
But it was not reported to police and Webber wrote a letter of apology to Gunner Beck, from Cumbria.
She was found hanged in her room at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on December 15 2021 – five months later.
At her 2025 inquest Assistant Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said Army failure to act made a “more than minimal” contribution to her death.
Judge Large told Webber: “At some point in the early hours of July 13, you told Gunner Beck she was beautiful, you put your hand on the back of her head, you leant in to kiss her and you touched her thigh.
“She had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and told you to go to bed, but you persisted to the extent she considered she wouldn’t be safe from you even if she went back to her own accommodation.”
Prosecuting, Commodore James Farrant said Webber and Gunner Beck had been away for adventure training on Thorney Island.
Commodore Farrant said he tried to kiss her and touched her thigh as she demanded he stop and go to bed.
After she reported it Webber was dealt with by a minor administrative action – involving an interview and writing Gunner Beck a letter of apology.
It meant no police investigation could take place.”
Wiltshire Police investigated a harassment complaint from Gunner Beck’s family after her death but found the evidence did not support a criminal harassment case.
They transferred jurisdiction to the Defence Serious Crime Unit and the Service Prosecuting Agency charged Webber with sexual assault in August. He pleaded guilty on September 5.
Victim personal statements written by Gunner Beck’s mother Leighann McCready, father Anthony Beck, and sister Emilli Beck were read.
Ms McCready described how Gunner Beck felt powerless, discovering his promotion to Warrant Officer Class 1 rank – telling her “I got a letter, he got a promotion”.
Ms Mcready added that the way in which it was handled “broke something inside her that she couldn’t repair.”
Mr Beck told how Webber was a large man of authority who assaulted his daughter, who had just turned 19.
“Knowing that someone like him could sexually assault my baby makes me feel sick to my stomach,” he said. “It broke me to see that light go out in her.”
Divorced Webber served for 22 years before leaving this year.
Representing Webber, Matthew Scott said: “He is devastated by what happened to Miss Beck.
“He doesn’t seek to shy away from his responsibility for what happened, he accepts through me that his actions on that night on Thorney Island contributed in some way to the tragic outcome when she took her own life in December….”
