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Family Snapshot

An ex- service sergeant has been ordered to serve half a year in custody for committing sexual assault against a young gunner who subsequently took her own life.

Sergeant Major Michael Webber, forty-three, held down soldier the victim and attempted to make physical contact in the summer of 2021. She was found dead five months later in her quarters at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

The defendant, who was judged at the legal proceedings in Wiltshire earlier, will be sent to a correctional facility and listed on sexual offenders list for seven years.

The family matriarch Ms. Mcready remarked: "What he [Webber] did, and how the armed forces neglected to defend our child afterwards, led to her death."

Military Response

The armed forces stated it failed to hear the soldier, who was originally from Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she reported the assault and has apologised for its management of her report.

After an investigation of the soldier's suicide, the defendant confessed to a single charge of unwanted sexual advance in last fall.

Ms McCready stated her young woman should have been sitting with her loved ones in court now, "to see the person she accused held accountable for his actions."

"Instead, we stand here without her, enduring endless sorrow that no loved ones should ever experience," she added.

"She followed the rules, but the individuals in charge didn't follow theirs. Such negligence broke our young woman completely."

Press Association

Legal Hearing

The judicial body was informed that the incident occurred during an adventure training exercise at the training location, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021.

Webber, a Sergeant Major at the time, attempted physical intimacy towards the soldier after an social gathering while on assignment for a training exercise.

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

She made official allegations against the accused following the violation, notwithstanding efforts by military leadership to persuade her not to.

An inquest into her suicide found the armed forces' response of the complaint played "a significant contributory part in her death."

Mother's Testimony

In a statement read out to the tribunal during proceedings, the mother, stated: "Our daughter had recently celebrated 19 and will always be a teenager full of vitality and joy."

"She had faith individuals to protect her and post-incident, the confidence was shattered. She was very upset and scared of the sergeant."

"I saw the difference personally. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That assault destroyed her faith in the structure that was meant to safeguard her."

Sentencing Remarks

While delivering judgment, Judge Advocate General the judge stated: "We have to consider whether it can be dealt with in another way. We are not convinced it can."

"We are satisfied the gravity of the violation means it can only be resolved by prison time."

He spoke to Webber: "The victim had the courage and good sense to demand you halt and instructed you to go to bed, but you continued to the point she believed she could not feel secure from you despite the fact she returned to her own accommodation."

He added: "The following day, she disclosed the assault to her relatives, her acquaintances and her chain of command."

"After the complaint, the military unit opted to handle the situation with minor administrative action."

"You were interviewed and you accepted your actions had been unacceptable. You prepared a letter of apology."

"Your career advanced completely unaffected and you were subsequently advanced to higher rank."

Background Information

At the inquest into the soldier's suicide, the investigating officer said a commanding officer put pressure on her to drop the allegations, and merely disclosed it to a superior officers "once details became known."

At the period, the accused was given a "minimal consequence discussion" with no further consequences.

The inquest was also told that just weeks after the incident the servicewoman had further been exposed to "persistent mistreatment" by a different service member.

Bombardier Ryan Mason, her commanding individual, directed toward her numerous SMS communications declaring attachments for her, along with a fifteen-page "romantic narrative" outlining his "fantasies about her."

Personal collection

Official Statement

The Army expressed it extended its "heartfelt apologies" to Gunner Beck and her loved ones.

"We will always be sincerely regretful for the deficiencies that were identified at the official inquiry in winter."

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