Revealed: The four men who ‘preyed’ upon teenage soldier who was hounded to her death while trying to achieve her ‘dream’ Army career

It was a school careers day presentation by military recruiters that inspired Jaysley-Louise Beck to join the Army, aged just 16.

From that moment on, according to her mother, Leighann McCready, she was ‘on a mission to join’.

But care worker Ms McCready, 45, from Oxen Park, Ulverston, Cumbria, still harboured reservations about the challenging path chosen by her teenage daughter.

‘Which mum wants to know that their princess is going to be a soldier?’ she said.

‘It came as a shock. However, we were fully supportive of Jaysley’s career choice. As a mum, you kind of want her home forever. Well, I certainly did. But no, we supported her choices.’

What her parents could not know was the effect the arrival of their pretty daughter into the male-dominated Army – and its seasoned cadre of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) – would have on her.

No fewer than four of her superiors, all older and one more than twice her age, would see her kind and friendly nature as an open invitation for their predatory instincts, despite supposedly strict rules banning ‘fraternisation’ between the ranks.

The pressures exerted on Jaysley by those NCOs in different ways may well have combined with other factors to drive Jaysley to take her own life.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber admitting trying to kiss Gnr Beck after being accused of sexually assaulting the teenage soldier

Bombardier Ryan Mason, 40, sent Gnr Beck 4,600 texts, with the inquest hearing he had also written a 15-page ‘love story about his feelings’ towards the teen soldier

Bombardier George Higgins, 30, was one of those to have a relationship with Gnr Beck. He was an instructor at AFC in Harrogate where Gnr Beck did her basic training as a 16-year-old 

Married Staff Sergeant Cory Budd, 29, had a clandestine affair with Gnr Beck before her death

As her elder sister Emilli, 25, put it, she was ‘the most beautiful, caring and strongest person I know’ and she was ‘taken advantage of by people superior to her in the Army’.

For the first couple of years of Jaysley’s army career, she vindicated her family’s faith in her and relished every minute of her new job.

Her mother recalled: ‘She did extremely well and was in constant contact with us.

‘You could tell how happy she was, how much she was thriving in the Army,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in 2023.

‘Absolutely there were challenges along the way. It wasn’t smooth sailing. It was a lot of hard work and dedication on Jaysley’s and her colleagues’ part, but she started off extremely well.’

Joining up in March 2019, Jaysley spent her first year at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate, North Yorks, graduating in February 2020 in to the Royal Artillery, where she proudly received her regimental beret and admitted to the RA as ‘Gunner’ (private) Beck.

She suffered a lower limb injury and stayed on as an instructor until July 2020 to recuperate and was then posted to 14 Regiment, Royal Artillery (RA) in Larkhill, Salisbury, for a four-week course as a drone operator.

After that, Jaysley was moved to 47 Regiment RA and subsequently volunteered to be part of the Corps Engagement Team (CET) from February 2021, during which her duties included promoting the Army at events, shows and in schools to potential new recruits.

A coroner concluded Gnr Beck’s death was suicide following months of harassment from her senior male colleagues 

Pictured are Gnr Beck’s parents, Leighann McCready, and Anthony Beck outside the Salisbury and Swindon Coroner’s Court in Salisbury, Wiltshire

A beaming Gnr Beck is seen passing out after completing her military training 

But from the second half of 2021, the teenage soldier was ‘taken advantage’ of by four male colleagues, all of them older and senior in rank to her, which eventually, combined with other factors, drove her to take her own life.

The backdrop to the tragic events was a turbulent long-distance relationship Jaysley had with an instructor at the AFC in Harrogate, whose rank then was the Royal Artillery equivalent of Corporal.

Bombardier George Higgins, now 30, who has left the Army, was eight years Jaysley’s senior. Asked at the inquest if their relationship began while she was a trainee, he initially declined to answer, then said it began after she left Harrogate.

Higgins was a trainer at the army foundation college in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which Beck attended from the age of 16.

The inquest heard it was an offence under the Sexual Offences Act for someone in a position of trust to have sexual activity with a person aged under 18 under their care.

He claimed he was never made aware of Army policy on sexual relations between officers or NCOs and subordinates but declined to answer when asked if he was ever pulled up by senior officers for failing to maintain boundaries with junior soldiers. 

Bombardier George Higgins, now 30, who has left the Army, was eight years Jaysley’s senior

Higgins was a trainer at the army foundation college in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which Beck attended from the age of 16

Bdr Higgins had a turbulent long-distance relationship with Gnr Beck, which he said began after she left AFC Harrogate 

Higgins was named only as ‘Witness 5’ in the Army’s previous inquiry, which heard there were ‘repeated allegations of unfaithfulness’ on his part, and the relationship finally ended in November 2021, only weeks before Jaysley’s death.

But in July 2021, she was sexually assaulted by a much more senior NCO, who escaped with a slap on the wrist, even being subsequently promoted to the highest NCO rank in the Army.

Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, 43, allegedly grabbed her leg and tried to kiss her.

Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, 43, allegedly grabbed Gnr Beck’s leg and trying to kiss her

She made a complaint about the senior NCO, following a stay at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire for an adventure training exercise.

Gunner Beck claimed that then WO2 Webber told her he had been ‘waiting for a moment for them to be alone’, engaged her in a drinking game called Last Man Standing before grabbing her leg and trying to kiss her.

The inquest this month heard Gunner Beck pushed him away and left the room before spending the night in her car and making a complaint to her superiors in the morning.

The senior soldier was later promoted to Warrant Officer 1 (WO1) rank – the highest non-commissioned rank in the Army – despite the minor ‘administrative action’ or ticking off he received for the incident with Gnr Beck.

However, giving evidence at the inquest, BSM Webber – who, at 39 at the time of the incident, was more than double Gunner Beck’s age – refused to answer questions about it, claiming he had taken ‘legal advice’.

But of all the contributory factors to Gunner Beck’s death, the most oppressive was doubtless the barrage of texts and quasi-stalking campaign waged by Bombardier Ryan Mason, 40, who sent her thousands of WhatsApp messages in the month leading up to the tragedy, her mother told the inquest.

Ryan Mason is seen arriving at the coroner’s court wearing a facemask and hat

Bdr Mason bombarded the teenage soldier with 3,600 texts in the November before her death

The court also heard how Jaysley’s father, restaurant owner Anthony Beck, 52, had urged her to ‘stay well away’ from ‘very controlling’ Bdr Mason after remarking that ‘something is not right with him’.

In one message to Gunner Beck, on October 21, Mr Mason wrote: ‘l Love you Jayse. As a friend.’

On November 11, he wrote: ‘You’re amazing Jayse, I appreciate you so much, I love everything about you, even your flaws.’

But on November 25, Gunner Beck wrote to Mr Mason, telling him the situation was becoming a bit too much’ and ‘weighing me down’.

She added: ‘Totally honest here, I just don’t want to hear how you feel about me.’

Jaysley’s mother Ms McCready said her daughter had received 3,600 messages from Mr Mason in the month of November – and Gunner Beck had expressed fears he was watching her and might even have been tracking her phone.

She added her daughter had phoned her on December 7 when she was staying in a hotel in Newbury for work.

Gunner Beck was ‘upset and crying’ and was ‘afraid something would happen, Ms McCready said.

‘Ryan was freaking her out,’ she added.

Jaysley’s mother Ms McCready told the inquest her daughter had been ‘upset and crying’ on December 7, days before her death, and that ‘Ryan was freaking her out’

Gnr Beck is seen during her passing out parade with her father, Anthony Beck 

Gnr Beck is pictured, centre, following her passing out parade at AFC Harrogate 

Ms McCready has said: ‘She showed us the messages four days before her passing. As a parent it puts you in a difficult position because you just want to go and pick them up from work.

‘But unfortunately, the military doesn’t work like that. We could only advise, offer reassurance and support and try to encourage our daughter to report it. However, Jaysley said she didn’t want to be branded as a female troublemaker.’

The Army report said Ryan Mason’s behaviour: ‘Stems from the fact that it appears he wanted a relationship with her and had developed feelings for her which were not reciprocated.

‘While this behaviour ended the week before her death, it appears that it continued to affect her and had taken a significant toll on her mental resilience and well-being.

‘The panel’s assessment of the evidence was that it is almost certain that this was a causal factor in her death.’

The report also noted she was having a clandestine affair with a married Royal Artillery soldier who held a much higher rank.

That soldier has been named at the inquest as Staff Sergeant Cory Budd, 29, who socialised with Gunner Beck on the night she took her life and her mood was said to have plummeted when he left the Christmas party.

SSgt Budd told the Coroner that Jaysley had admitted to him that her father had been ‘worried’ about her.

SSgt Budd (pictured) told the Coroner that Jaysley had admitted to him that her father had been ‘worried’ about her.

Gnr Beck (pictured) had previously messaged SSgt Budd telling him her father was concerned about bdr Mason

During their affair, Gnr Beck messaged SSgt Budd telling him her father was concerned about Bdr Mason – who had written a 15-page ‘love story about his feelings’ towards the teen soldier.

The Army’s inquiry concluded that maintaining secrecy around the relationship with SSgt Budd ‘affected her state of mind and was likely to have been a contributory factor’.

The Army’s own report should have sent a clear message to top brass to crack down on male predatory behaviour in the forces, which countless other cases have proved is far more widespread than one garrison.

As the conclusion noted: ‘[Gunner Beck’s] relationships and the incidents of unacceptable behaviour to which she was subject involved four personnel from three separate units across Larkhill Garrison.

‘All four personnel were significantly older and more senior in rank than [her].

‘The incidents involving [Gunner Beck], in addition to other incidents related by other witnesses, were assessed as being indicative of a permissive environment that has enabled unacceptable behaviour to become normalised in some instances across some Larkhill Garrison units.

The report concluded: ‘Mental wellbeing warning signs were clearly present in the weeks before her death but these were missed.

‘Other parts of the military culture of the Armed Forces show it is still a man’s world.’

One of the Army’s most senior female officers agreed that the service should have done more for Jaysley.

Brigadier Melissa Emmett the head of the Army Personnel Support Group told the inquest: ‘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.

The Army has apologised for Gnr Beck’s death after it ‘let her down’. Gnr Beck is pictured 

‘What is clear is that irrespective of the policies we had in place and the training, somehow people did not understand what was expected of them and didn’t have the confidence to act.

‘We left Jaysley unaware of how she could raise her concerns and have the confidence to be listened to.

‘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.’

Recording a conclusion of suicide, Nicholas Rheinberg, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, concluded Gnr Beck had intended to take her own life

He said: ‘My conclusion is she died by suicide. I am satisfied Jaysley undertook the physical actions that resulted in her death by hanging, the inevitable consequences must have been known to Jaysley despite the level of alcohol she had consumed.

‘I am satisfied she intended to die.’

Jaysley’s mother Ms McCready gave a statement outside the coroner’s court on Thursday

He also condemned the Army for failings in its handling of the complaint raised by Gnr Beck over Battery Sergeant Major Webber, which was dealt with in-house instead of being reported to police as a ‘sexual assault’. 

He described the disciplinary action taken by the Army as ‘trivial’ and said the ‘system for making complaints’ within the service is ‘insufficiently robust’. 

Ending the inquest, the coroner offered his condolences to the family, who had pictures of her at their tables.

Mr Rheinberg said: ‘I am sorry I meet you in terrible circumstances, I am pleased that you will have comfort in the strength that you have together.’

In an emotional statement after the inquest, Gnr Beck’s heartbroken mother Ms McCready lashed out at the military over its handling of her daughter’s complaints, adding: ‘The Army has admitted it let Jaysley down and has apologised for its failings. But no apology will ever bring her back.’ 

Paying tribute, she added: ‘Jaysley was so much more than just a soldier – she was our daughter, a sister to Emilli, and a friend to so many. She was kind, caring, and truly loved by everyone who knew her. 

‘She was full of life, bright, and absolutely fantastic at her job.’

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