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Family Snapshot

An ex- service sergeant has been given 180 days in custody for committing sexual assault against a 19-year-old soldier who later took her own life.

Warrant Officer the former sergeant, 43, pinned down soldier the victim and sought to make physical contact in July 2021. She was found dead several months after in her military accommodation at Larkhill military installation.

The convicted individual, who was judged at the legal proceedings in Wiltshire recently, will be transferred to a civilian prison and on the sex offenders register for a seven-year period.

The family matriarch Leighann Mcready remarked: "His actions, and how the Army failed to protect our young woman following the incident, cost Jaysley her life."

Army Statement

The armed forces said it ignored the servicewoman, who was a native of Oxen Park in Cumbria, when she disclosed the incident and has expressed regret for its handling of her report.

Following an inquest into the soldier's suicide, the accused admitted to a single charge of unwanted sexual advance in last fall.

The grieving parent commented her child should have been alongside her relatives in the courtroom today, "to witness the person she reported brought to justice for what he did."

"Instead, we appear without her, enduring endless sorrow that no relatives should ever experience," she continued.

"She adhered to protocols, but the individuals in charge didn't follow theirs. Such negligence broke our young woman totally."

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Legal Hearing

The court was advised that the incident happened during an field exercise at the training location, near the Hampshire area, in summer 2021.

The accused, a ranking soldier at the time, made a sexual advance towards the servicewoman after an social gathering while on assignment for a training exercise.

Gunner Beck claimed the sergeant remarked he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be alone" before taking hold of her, holding her against her will, and attempting to force intimacy.

She filed a complaint against the accused after the incident, notwithstanding efforts by superiors to discourage her.

An inquest into her passing found the armed forces' response of the complaint played "more than a minimal role in her suicide."

Mother's Testimony

In a account shared to the court previously, the parent, said: "She had recently celebrated a teenager and will always be a teenager full of vitality and joy."

"She trusted authorities to protect her and after what he did, the faith was lost. She was deeply distressed and fearful of the accused."

"I saw the change before my own eyes. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That incident broke her confidence in the structure that was intended to look after her."

Sentencing Remarks

During sentencing, Judge Advocate General the magistrate remarked: "We need to assess whether it can be handled in a different manner. We are not convinced it can."

"We have determined the severity of the offence means it can only be addressed by incarceration."

He told the convicted individual: "She had the courage and good sense to instruct you to cease and directed you to leave the area, but you continued to the extent she believed she would remain in danger from you despite the fact she retreated to her personal quarters."

He added: "The next morning, she made the complaint to her loved ones, her friends and her commanding officers."

"Following the report, the unit decided to deal with you with light disciplinary measures."

"You underwent questioning and you admitted your conduct had been unacceptable. You prepared a letter of apology."

"Your professional path continued unimpeded and you were in due course advanced to higher rank."

Further Details

At the investigation into the tragic passing, the investigating officer said a commanding officer pressured her to cease proceedings, and just informed it to a superior officers "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the period, the accused was given a "minimal consequence discussion" with no serious repercussions.

The investigation was also told that mere weeks after the incident the servicewoman had further been exposed to "continuous bullying" by a different service member.

A separate service member, her commanding individual, transmitted to her numerous SMS communications expressing emotions for her, in addition to a fifteen-page "love story" describing his "imagined scenarios."

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Institutional Response

The military leadership said it offered its "sincerest condolences" to the servicewoman and her loved ones.

"We continue to be deeply apologetic for the shortcomings that were noted at Jaysley's inquest in winter."

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