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Family Snapshot

A former service sergeant has been sentenced to 180 days in custody for sexually assaulting a teenage servicewoman who subsequently took her own life.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber, 43, held down soldier the young woman and attempted to make physical contact in the summer of 2021. She was located without signs of life several months after in her barracks at Larkhill military installation.

Webber, who was judged at the Court Martial Centre in the Wiltshire region recently, will be placed in a civilian prison and listed on sex offenders register for a seven-year period.

Gunner Beck's mother Leighann Mcready remarked: "The assault, and how the Army did not safeguard our young woman following the incident, led to her death."

Official Reaction

The armed forces said it failed to hear Gunner Beck, who was hailing from the Cumbrian village, when she reported the assault and has expressed regret for its management of her complaint.

Following an inquest into the tragic death, Webber pleaded guilty to the offense of sexual assault in last fall.

Ms McCready commented her young woman should have been sitting with her relatives in court now, "to observe the individual she accused brought to justice for what he did."

"Rather, we stand here without her, enduring endless sorrow that no family should ever experience," she added.

"She followed the rules, but the individuals in charge didn't follow theirs. Those failures broke our young woman utterly."

PA

Judicial Process

The legal tribunal was advised that the violation occurred during an adventure training exercise at the exercise site, near Hampshire's Emsworth, in mid-2021.

Webber, a senior officer at the moment, attempted physical intimacy towards the soldier after an evening of drinking while on deployment for a military exercise.

Gunner Beck claimed the sergeant stated he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be alone" before taking hold of her, pinning her down, and making unwanted advances.

She filed a complaint against the accused subsequent to the incident, despite attempts by commanding officers to persuade her not to.

A formal investigation into her suicide found the Army's handling of the allegations played "an important contributory part in her demise."

Family Statement

In a statement read out to the judicial body previously, Ms McCready, expressed: "The young woman had recently celebrated nineteen and will eternally stay a teenager full of vitality and joy."

"She believed individuals to defend her and following the assault, the faith was lost. She was deeply distressed and terrified of Michael Webber."

"I observed the transformation before my own eyes. She felt helpless and deceived. That assault broke her confidence in the system that was supposed to protect her."

Sentencing Remarks

During sentencing, The presiding judge the judge said: "We need to assess whether it can be handled in a different manner. We are not convinced it can."

"We conclude the severity of the crime means it can only be dealt with by prison time."

He addressed the defendant: "The servicewoman had the strength and intelligence to tell you to stop and told you to go to bed, but you continued to the degree she believed she would remain in danger from you even if she went back to her assigned barracks."

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

"After the complaint, the unit chose to address your behavior with minimal consequences."

"You were subject to inquiry and you accepted your actions had been inappropriate. You prepared a letter of apology."

"Your professional path continued unimpeded and you were subsequently elevated to senior position."

Background Information

At the inquest into the soldier's suicide, the official examiner said military leadership put pressure on her to withdraw the complaint, and only reported it to a higher command "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the moment, Webber was given a "light disciplinary meeting" with no serious repercussions.

The inquiry was additionally informed that just weeks after the assault the soldier had additionally been facing "relentless harassment" by a separate individual.

Another soldier, her superior officer, transmitted to her more than 4,600 SMS communications confessing his feelings for her, in addition to a 15-page "love story" detailing his "imagined scenarios."

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Organizational Reaction

The military leadership expressed it provided its "sincerest condolences" to Gunner Beck and her relatives.

"We will always be deeply apologetic for the deficiencies that were discovered at the formal investigation in early this year."

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