‘My daughter being silenced helps others find voice’

The mother of a soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted in the Army says other survivors have come to her with “heartbreaking” experiences.

Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead in her barracks at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021 after a Christmas party.

A coroner ruled the Army’s failure to take action – after Gunner Beck was harassed by her line manager and sexually assaulted by another colleague – contributed to her death.

Leighann McCready said: “Jaysley’s voice being silenced has given others the strength to find theirs. That means everything to us.”

The coroner said the fact the soldier had also been sexually assaulted by another senior colleague, and the Army’s failure to take appropriate action, “more than minimally” contributed to Ms Beck’s death.

“It’s been very difficult since the inquest,” Ms McCready told Stephanie Finnon from BBC Radio Cumbria.

Brig Melissa Emmett, head of the Army personnel services group, formally accepted failures were made and previously apologised to Gunner Beck’s grieving family.

She said “significant changes” had been made within the Army, including the “introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours”.

But Ms McCready said the apology was not issued personally to her, but she “heard the words on Sky News”.

“It still doesn’t resonate with me.

“I thought we’d hear more in regards to the outcome but what I can say that there is a lot more going on in the background, which for legal reasons, I’m not allowed to disclose.

“To have faced the abuser, and for him to just say ‘no comment, no comment’ throughout was difficult for us to listen to a family,” Ms McCready, who is from Oxen Park, continued.

“It proved what we said from day one. We said it wasn’t right, we weren’t listened to and it’s taken four years for them to say ‘we’ve failed Jaysley Beck’.

“The Army are trying to make changes, very much too late in all honesty.

“The service personnel are still feeling let down by the system in the Army.”

Ms McCready said since her daughter’s story had been shared, “so many people have reached out to us and shared their experience of sexual harassment and assault… it’s really heartbreaking.

“Jaysley’s voice being silenced has given others the strength to find theirs.

“That means everything to us.

“We take comfort in knowing that through her, others are being to speak up and feel seen.”

Ms McCready and 24 of her daughter’s friends and family were raising money for the Centre for Military Justice, she said.

She said the group was doing a sky dive “as a stand against the silence that cost my daughter her life”.

“We won’t stop until changes happen,” she added.

“If my 19-year-old daughter – who was in constant contact with us – was saying there was nowhere else to turn because within the Army you had to go through your chain of command.

“We’re trying to make changes so the Army cannot mark its own homework.”

• If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this story you can find help and support via BBC Action Line here.