Leighann McCready is haunted by memories of the three fleeting years her daughter spent in the Army.
Fresh from finishing her GCSEs, not yet old enough to drive or to vote, Jaysley Beck was 16 when she left the family home in an idyllic corner of the Lake District and began her military career at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
Leighann remembers all too well the maelstrom of her own emotions – the terror, trepidation and, above all, the overwhelming pride – as Jaysley, her youngest daughter, whose petite stature belied her inner steel, prepared to fly the nest.
As proud as she was, Leighann, a 46-year-old former Marie Curie nurse, couldn’t bring herself to sign the necessary paperwork, instead leaving that job to her partner, Jaysley’s dad, Anthony Beck.
She recalls: ‘I just said, “I can’t do it love, I just can’t.” I said, “What if something ever happens to you?”
‘And she went, “Well, I’ll be serving our country; there’s a chance something could happen to me. But [if it did], I would be proud that I’d served.”‘
How painfully those words linger now. For, days before Christmas 2021, at the age of just 19, Jaysley would be found dead in her barracks at Larkhill garrison in Wiltshire.
A young woman for whom the phrase a ‘wise head on young shoulders’ could have been coined, who had never had a whisper of any mental health problems, had taken her own life.
Leighann McCready is haunted by memories of the three fleeting years her daughter spent in the Army (pictured together)
Fresh from finishing her GCSEs, not yet old enough to drive or to vote, Jaysley Beck (pictured) was 16 when she left the family home in an idyllic corner of the Lake District and began her military career
Her death has reverberated through the ranks of military officialdom, shining a glaring light on the woeful inadequacies and failures that left her feeling so very exposed and let down.
As Leighann says: ‘The Army has cost me the loss of my daughter. Had the proper procedure been followed, my daughter would still be alive today.’
Jaysley was found hanged after two equally appalling incidents: first, a sexual assault by a superior and, second, a terrifying campaign of harassment by her line manager.
Despite reporting the assault – Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber pinned her down, put his hand between her legs and tried to kiss her at a work social event – Jaysley endured the indignity of seeing her attacker dealt with so leniently.
His ‘punishment’ was being told to compose a handwritten letter of apology to her. He remained in position and went on to be promoted to the highest rank attainable for a non-commissioned officer.
An outcome which, as we shall see, had a devastating impact on Jaysley’s willingness to speak out when her line manager, Bombardier Ryan Mason, later unleashed an onslaught of thousands of ‘inappropriate messages’ in a three-month period leading up to her death.
She didn’t want to ‘risk being branded a female troublemaker’, says Leighann.
Earlier this year a coroner delivered a scathing ruling, highlighting the systemic failures that contributed to Jaysley’s death.
She was sexually assaulted by her superior, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber (pictured, centre), who pinned her down, put his hand between her legs and tried to kiss her at a work social event
It had a devastating impact on Jaysley’s willingness to speak out when her line manager, Bombardier Ryan Mason (pictured at her inquest), later unleashed an onslaught of thousands of ‘inappropriate messages’ in a three-month period leading up to her death
This month – and nearly four years after her death – Warrant Officer Michael Webber finally admitted sexual assault and will be sentenced next month.
In her first full interview after that admission, Leighann wants to cry from the rooftops that it is all too little, far too late.
She says: ‘We knew he was guilty back in 2021 when we lost our daughter.
‘Jaysley knew he was guilty, yet no action was taken; she witnessed him being promoted and said, “Oh, so that’s what happens in the Army when they do what they do – they get a big, fat promotion.”
‘Have I accepted my daughter’s passing? Absolutely not, because I’ve been too busy fighting a crime and too busy fighting for justice.’
Leighann never expected to become such a tenacious voice for change. Yet multiple young women have confided in her about their own experiences of assault, even rape, while serving and she has taken it upon herself to give the silenced a voice.
It wasn’t meant to be like this. For Jaysley was just what the Army needs. At the time she died, she was working in a community outreach programme encouraging others to follow in her footsteps.
A tomboy who loved helping her plumber dad with DIY and once asked for a set of Black & Decker tools for Christmas, Jaysley was 15 when she came home from a school careers day and made the announcement that changed everything.
Leighann never expected to become such a tenacious voice for change. Yet multiple young women have confided in her about their own experiences of assault. Pictured: Leighann, second right, with her husband Anthony Beck, second left, and daughter Emilli Beck, left, outside court after Jaysley’s inquest concluded in February
She’d met an inspirational Army recruiter, who had told her: ‘Strong-minded people like you, Jaysley, that’s what we want in the Army.’
‘She came home and said, “Right I’m on a mission, I’m joining the Army”. I was like “No!”. But, strong-minded girl that she was, she did follow it through,’ says Leighann.
Though a little anxious, Leighann embraced her daughter’s enthusiasm, encouraging her as she embarked on a gruelling physical training programme and jumped all the hurdles needed to get to Harrogate. Jaysley graduated the day after her 17th birthday.
‘We were unbelievably proud,’ says Leighann. ‘There’s a clip of her at her passing-out parade, where she’s running up to me and giving me a big cuddle – and I will always be so proud that I was the first person.’
By the time she reached Larkhill, as a gunner in the Royal Artillery, she had entered a relationship with George Higgins, eight years her senior and formerly her college trainer.
The breakdown of that relationship because of Higgins’s infidelity was cited by the coroner as a factor in Jaysley’s death, along with the strain of another relationship with a married colleague.
But Leighann is pragmatic. Young women have relationships, age gaps are not unusual; she doesn’t want anything to divert from the fundamental failures that have brought us here.
Jaysley spoke to her family multiple times a day – WhatsApp messages, video calls – so when she was assaulted by Michael Webber, at the end of an evening social during a training exercise in July 2021, her parents were among the first to know.
By the time Jaysley reached Larkhill, as a gunner in the Royal Artillery, she had entered a relationship with George Higgins (pictured outside her inquest), eight years her senior and formerly her college trainer
Leighann recalls: ‘She said he tried to put his hands between her legs and grabbed her around the neck to pull her closer.
‘As he was doing that, she was saying: “Get off me, Sir”.’
Jaysley was so scared her superior officer would follow her back to her accommodation that she retreated to her car and called a female friend (a soldier on guard duty) and pleaded for her to stay on the phone with her – all night.
The next morning, she reported what had happened to Captain (now Major) James Hook.
‘When she told him what had happened, he said to her, “You do know he’s married and has a family. Really think about what you are saying”.’
Leighann sighs. ‘There’s Jaysley, a strong-minded girl, but with a really big heart; she told us she didn’t want anyone to think she was a troublemaker.’
And yet, rebuffed once, Jaysley did report the assault further up the chain of command, ultimately speaking to Colonel Samantha Shepherd.
According to the Army’s own policies, it should have been reported to police. It wasn’t.
Jaysley (pictured) spoke to her family multiple times a day – WhatsApp messages, video calls – so when she was assaulted by Michael Webber, her parents were among the first to know
Webber was given a ‘minor administrative action’ interview. The letter of apology that arrived is still in Leighann’s possession.
She found it in her daughter’s barracks after her death, and has kept it as one of the many pieces of ‘evidence’ she has assembled into the way Jaysley was failed.
Leighann sees how crushed Jaysley felt by it all. ‘She followed the correct procedure, but it was all sort of brushed aside.
‘People say, “Why didn’t you do something?” But it’s not like your child is in school and you can go and sit down for a word with the headteacher.’
It’s easy to see why a woman who felt ignored once was reluctant to speak out when she became the victim of the attentions of another superior, Bombardier Ryan Mason, who became her boss after she volunteered to become part of a community engagement team.
Jaysley told her mum that Mason had mental health problems. Leighann says: ‘Jaysley didn’t like to see anybody upset; she wore her heart on her sleeve and was an extremely good listener.’
But the extraordinary trail of messages submitted to an inquest into Jaysley’s death this year documents the intense twist events would take over the last three months of 2021. In November alone, Mason sent Jaysley some 3,600 messages.
Smart, focused, compassionate, Jaysley documented it all in a private chat group with her family.
It’s easy to see why a woman who felt ignored once was reluctant to speak out when she became the victim of the attentions of another superior, Bombardier Ryan Mason. Pictured: Jaysley, second left, with her mother, second right, father, left, and sister, right, after passing out
‘He was infatuated with her,’ says Leighann. ‘He became obsessed. We were saying, “You need to report this”.
‘But she didn’t want it reporting because she knew he was suicidal. She didn’t want him to do something silly and to have to live with that for the rest of her life.’
Leighann is haunted by the call Jaysley made to her on December 7, while on an away trip with Mason and their team. What exactly happened remains a mystery, but its impact was extreme.
‘Jaysley was a tough little cookie, but she was sobbing. She wouldn’t go into detail about what had happened, but she said, “Stay on the phone until I get out of this hotel.”
‘”Report it, Jays!”‘ – that’s what her parents told her; that’s what her friends told her. But she just went back to what had happened with Webber and said, “They did nothing, Mum.”‘
At the inquest, Mason, who has never faced any charges or punishment for his behaviour and is now a driving instructor, revealed he went back to his family home in West Yorkshire on December 8 before he then handed in his notice to quit the Army.
The answers he gave to questions were guarded. He broke down in tears as he described the mental health issues that had plagued him from childhood.
Did he think it was appropriate for an older man of senior rank to offload his troubles to a 19-year-old? No answer.
Leighann is haunted by the call Jaysley (pictured) made to her on December 7, while on an away trip with Mason and their team
Asked what had happened to make Jaysley ‘so frightened’, he replied: ‘I don’t know.’
But Jaysley’s distress was so apparent to her peers, as the inquest heard, that multiple fellow soldiers urged her to make a complaint.
Tragically, just a week after his departure, Jaysley was found hanged in her barracks on December 15 after a Christmas party with her peers.
Leighann, who had happily chatted to her daughter on a video call from the party, knew something was wrong when her calls went unanswered the following morning.
At first she told herself Jaysley was just enjoying a lie-in. Until she rang one more time and somebody else answered.
‘I just threw my phone to the floor and screamed,’ she says. ‘110 per cent, I thought he’s [Mason] murdered her. I wanted answers.’
But the machine that had failed to follow procedures when Jaysley spoke out was a stickler for procedures in the wake of her death.
When Leighann was in her daughter’s room she found Webber’s letter of apology.
Tragically, Jaysley was found hanged in her barracks on December 15 after a Christmas party with her peers. Leighann (pictured outside her daughter’s inquest) knew something was wrong when her calls went unanswered the following morning
‘The only reason Michael Webber was caught out was because I found that letter,’ she says.
‘It doesn’t matter how much time he gets [when he’s sentenced]; let’s face it, in this day and age prisons are like a home from home.
‘He retired in August this year, so what can he be stripped of?’
‘Disciplinary action should have immediate effect. It shouldn’t come four years later.’
Leighann recalls with pride one final moment in Jaysley’s short life: ‘Two nights before she died, she told me that one of the lads in the block downstairs had tried to end his life. She sat with him and supported him all night.
‘I’m still in contact with that person, who is still alive because of Jaysley, which is why it’s so important to me to help save the lives of others.’
Last month Leighann did a skydive to raise funds for the Centre for Military Justice, the charity that has supported the family.
Leighann and her family are calling for complaints raised within the Armed Forces to be handled by independent investigators.
‘Something needs to change with immediate effect,’ she says. ‘Not all soldiers have a strong family like Jaysley, and God forbid what this could do to the next family.’
For confidential support call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
