The mother of a young soldier who took her own life says she has “sleepless nights” knowing there are abusers still serving in the Army.
A coroner ruled that the Army’s failure to take action after 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was sexually assaulted by a more senior soldier and harassed by her line manager contributed to her death at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in 2021.
One of the men has since left the Army but the other continues to serve.
Jaysley Beck’s mother, Leighann McCready, believes he has been protected by the Army.
“Why should they continue to carry on serving when we’re left absolutely heartbroken? We have to deal with this for the rest of our lives and it’s not fair. It’s absolutely not fair that no action’s been taken.”
Reacting to the announcement that claims of sexual harassment in the Army will be removed from the chain of command and instead dealt with by a new, specialist taskforce, Ms McCready said it was a “step in the right direction” but added that “it should have happened a long time ago”.
Last week, a Sky News investigation revealed claims of widespread sexual abuse.
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One former soldier described how, after reporting an alleged rape, she discovered the officers dealing with her case had called her a whore.
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Ms McCready praised the hundreds of servicewomen who have spoken out since her daughter’s death and urged the Army to root out their abusers.
“This causes me sleepless nights to know that they’re still serving. It’s heartbreaking. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to think this is still going on.
“All I want now is for action, for real action to be taken and to continue with the change and continue speaking up”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said “the Army and MoD have undertaken to carefully analyse and assess all of HM Coroner’s findings into the tragic death of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck.
“There is no place for bullying, harassment, or discrimination in the military. This government is totally committed to making the reforms that are needed to stamp out inappropriate behaviour and hold people to account.”
On Tuesday the head of the Army, General Sir Roly Walker, told MPs “I absolutely recognise that we still have work to do. There are some recurring themes which we are addressing. Self-evidently, there continues to be a prevalence of bullying, harassment, and discrimination within our ranks.
“We have to recognise that there are some cultural and structural barriers still.”
