In 2021, Jaysley Beck was sexually assaulted by a senior officer during a training exercise at Thorney Island. The officer, then 43, plied the 19-year-old with drinks during a drinking game before touching her thigh and attempting to kiss her.
Beck pushed him away and spent the night locked in her car—terrified and alone—before reporting the assault to her superiors the following morning.
According to inquest testimony, one of the two officers who has been charged with conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline (which is military code for: they royally screwed up their duty of care to a teenage soldier who came to them for help after being sexually assaulted) asked Beck what outcome she wanted. When she said she didn’t want to harm Webber’s career, Hook apparently took this as permission to do… well, precisely nothing.
The assault wasn’t reported to the police. The offending officer wrote an apology letter, and then, in a cruel and dark twist, he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class 1.
“I got a letter, he got a promotion.”
Two Army officers will face a court-martial over their actions surrounding the sexual assault case of 19-year-old soldier Jaysley Beck, who later took her own life. pic.twitter.com/i2MKvFXvvm
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 30, 2026
Apparently, an inquest into Beck’s death found that the army’s mishandling of her complaint contributed “more than minimally” to her taking her own life at Larkhill Camp. Her mother, Leighann McCready, described how her “bright, confident daughter became quiet and withdrawn” after the assault. Beck later discovered her attacker had been promoted, telling her mother: “I got a letter, he got a promotion.”
The officer was eventually sentenced to six months in military prison after pleading guilty to sexual assault. The MOD has since established a crime command and violence against women task force.
The investigation that led to two other officers being charged came only after Beck’s family wrote to Chief of the General Staff General Sir Roly Walker, demanding accountability for the “multiple Army failings in the chain of command.” McCready expressed relief at reaching this stage but noted her family remains “very unhappy” with parts of the Army’s response, particularly the lack of progress on promised reforms to protect young servicewomen.
Armed Forces Minister Al Carns called the Beck case a “horrendous failing of the system,” which might win the award for understatement of the year. The case exposes how military culture’s emphasis on chain of command and career protection can create an environment where officers prioritize institutional reputation over a teenager’s safety and well-being.
It’s unclear how the court martial will go, but the truly heartbreaking reality is that prosecuting those officers won’t bring Beck back—though it can give her family some measure of the justice she was denied.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. A list of international crisis resources can be found here.
Published: Feb 2, 2026 09:10 am