A continued toxic culture of misogyny in the armed forces

The inquest into the death of Gunner Jaysley Beck, portrayed a toxic culture of misogyny that sadly still appears to be present in the armed forces.

Beck joined the army aged 16 in March 2019, and began basic training at the army foundation college in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

The inquest heard that shortly after graduating, Beck was involved in a relationship with George Higgins, who was one of her army instructors and eight years older than her.  When Higgins was asked at the inquest to confirm when he first had sexual intercourse with Beck, he refused to provide an answer.

In July 2021, whilst on an army adventure exercise in Hampshire, Battery Sergeant Major Michael Webber, who was 39 years old at the time, is said to have engaged Beck in a drinking game, before allegedly pinning Beck down and trying to kiss her. 

The inquest heard how Beck had spent the night locked in her car to escape from Webber.  When the incident was reported, Webber’s conduct was dealt with as “a minor administrative action” with Webber simply sending Beck an apology letter.

At the inquest, Webber declined to answer any questions about the incident.

The inquest also heard from Major James Hook, who said he had known Beck was not enjoying the adventure exercise and he thought she had been trying to “generate a situation” so she would be sent back to her army base at Larkhill Camp.

Colonel Samantha Shepherd, who was the Regimental Colonel for the Royal Artillery Regiment that Beck had been posted to, told the inquest that the Webber incident was concluded as  “unwelcome attention, inappropriate contact”, but told the inquest “I know now that it constitutes a sexual assault, but I didn’t know it at the time.”

Following the July 2021 incident, the inquest heard how Bombardier Ryan Mason, who was Beck’s line manager at the time, had become fixated with Beck, sending her more than 4,600 messages and voicemails throughout October and November 2021, with Beck describing Mason as “psychotic and possessive”.

On 7 December 2021, Beck was forced to abandon an overnight army deployment in Newbury due to feeling “unsafe” in Mason’s company. Beck contacted Bombardier George Young to collect her from the hotel she was staying at during the overnight deployment, to take her back to Larkhill Camp, reporting that she was "trembling, crying and in shock".

Tragically, Beck aged 19 was found hanged in her room at the Larkhill Camp on 15 December 2021.

At the conclusion of the inquiry into Beck’s death, Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg found the army had failed to address the harassment Beck had suffered by Mason and that they had failed to investigate the alleged sexual assault by Webber, resulting in Beck taking her own life.

The inquest into the death of Gunner Jaysley Beck concluded on 20 February 2025, which has prompted online army forums being filled with accounts of the military’s failures to tackle the toxic culture of misogyny in the armed forces, with countless testimonies of abuse.

Following the inquest, Beck’s family commented “Too often, servicewomen and men don’t feel able to speak up out of fear of being victimised, and even when they do, the army is left to investigate itself…This cannot continue.”