Jaysley Beck: Army Colonel cleared of wrongdoing relating to soldier sexual assault and suicide

A senior Army officer has been cleared by a court martial of failing to deal properly with allegations made by a teenage soldier who took her own life five months later.

Colonel Samantha Shepherd was on trial at the Military Court Centre at Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, alongside Major James Hook, with both officers accused of “conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline”.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday (September 15) that both senior officers “let down” Gunner Jaysley Beck when she told them about an incident which happened on a Royal Artillery adventure training exercise on Thorney Island, in Chichester Harbour near Emsworth, in July 2021. The court martial board heard how Gunner Beck told both officers about behaviour towards her by Warrant Officer Michael Webber at a social event during the exercise.

Gnr Beck died months later in December 2021, with her body being found at Larkhill camp. Prosecutors said the young soldier “told each of them enough to understand that she may been sexually assaulted”. The prosecution accused Col Shepherd of deliberately failing to pass on information of the incident to Captain Mae King, the adjutant at the 14 Regiment Royal Artillery who is responsible for discipline.

Court heard from the prosecution that Shepherd did not pass on the claims that Gnr Beck was touched inappropriately. In a prepared statement given to military police, Shepherd said she believed she had disclosed the touching allegation to Captain King but could not be sure.

Captain King, who is now a major, was asked questions about what Colonel Shepherd told her when she gave evidence at the court martial on Tuesday.

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The allegation against Shepherd was that “on a date in July 2021, you misreported what you had been told by Jaysley Beck on Jul 13, 2021, to Mae King”. The board of three senior military officers considered their decision regarding the Gnr Beck case.

On Wednesday (September 16), Assistant Judge Advocate General Edward Legard told the board: “The Crown has concluded that there is insufficient evidence upon which you can safely convict Colonel Shepherd of the charge she faces.”

The board, which consists of an Air Commodore, a Royal Navy captain and an Army colonel, formally returned a not guilty verdict, on the directions of the judge, and Col Shepherd left the court. An inquest into Gnr Beck’s death found that various failings contributed to her passing.

The trial against Maj Hook continues. Prosecutor Commander Paul Patterson has told the board that the allegation against Maj Hook, who was a captain at the time and was running the exercise, did not treat the information he was given by Gunner Beck “in a manner consistent with its seriousness” and Shepherd “deliberately misreported what she had been told”.

In his opening statement, the prosecutor said that WO Webber, Gnr Beck and Lance Corporal Drew Tudor were drinking together until the early hours of the morning of July 13. The following morning L/Cpl Tudor found Gnr Beck asleep in her car and she told him about what happened with WO Webber.

Cdr Patterson said the soldier fetched Maj Hook, who got in the car and Gnr Beck repeated what she had said. The prosecutor said Maj Hook and Gnr Beck then went on a walk and the officer gave the teenager until noon to decide whether she wanted to make a complaint. He said Maj Hook later phoned a more senior officer back at the barracks to say WO Webber had “made a pass” at Gnr Beck.