'Destroyed'

This does not feel like justice, says mother of Jaysley Beck

- Steven Morris

At the end of Gunner Jaysley Beck's inquest, the British army promised that the teenager's suicide after a sexual assault by a senior colleague would lead to lasting and effective change.

Eight months on, as her abuser was finally sentenced for the attack, Beck's mother, Leighann McCready, said the army had made "empty promises" and changes to the way victims were treated were not taking place quickly enough.

She said her 19-year-old daughter's death had "destroyed" her and the conviction of the man who attacked her, Michael Webber, a battery sergeant major at the time, did not feel like justice.

McCready said: "As her mother, knowing what happened to her has destroyed me. Since the day I lost her, my life has been turned completely upside down. There is no peace, no normal any more. I feel numb and empty, like I'm existing rather than living."

Beck joined the army aged 16 in 2019. She was sexually assaulted by Webber at a social event during an exercise in Hampshire in July 2021. She reported what had happened to her seniors but the police were not informed and Beck was encouraged to accept a letter of apology from Webber.