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An ex- military sergeant has been ordered to serve six months in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage servicewoman who later died by suicide.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber, forty-three, restrained service member the victim and sought to make physical contact in July 2021. She was found dead five months later in her military accommodation at Larkhill military installation.

The defendant, who was given his punishment at the Court Martial Centre in the Wiltshire region recently, will be placed in a civilian prison and registered as offender database for seven years.

The family matriarch Leighann Mcready remarked: "His actions, and how the Army failed to protect our child afterwards, cost Jaysley her life."

Official Reaction

The military leadership acknowledged it did not listen to the servicewoman, who was originally from Oxen Park in Cumbria, when she disclosed the incident and has apologised for its management of her complaint.

Subsequent to a formal inquiry regarding the tragic death, the accused admitted to one count of sexual assault in last fall.

The grieving parent stated her young woman should have been alongside her loved ones in the courtroom now, "to observe the man she accused brought to justice for the assault."

"Rather, we are present without her, facing perpetual grief that no family should ever have to face," she added.

"She adhered to protocols, but those responsible didn't follow theirs. Those failures broke our young woman completely."

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Legal Hearing

The court was informed that the assault took place during an adventure training exercise at the training location, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in July 2021.

Webber, a ranking soldier at the moment, initiated inappropriate contact towards the servicewoman following an social gathering while on assignment for a training exercise.

The victim claimed the sergeant said he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be by themselves" before grabbing her leg, holding her against her will, and attempting to force intimacy.

She reported the incident against Webber following the violation, notwithstanding efforts by military leadership to discourage her.

An official inquiry into her suicide found the military's management of the report played "a significant role in her death."

Parent's Account

In a testimony read out to the court previously, the mother, expressed: "She had just turned 19 and will eternally stay a young person full of life and laughter."

"She believed people to defend her and after what he did, the trust was lost. She was extremely troubled and fearful of Michael Webber."

"I saw the transformation before my own eyes. She felt powerless and betrayed. That violation destroyed her confidence in the system that was meant to look after her."

Sentencing Remarks

While delivering judgment, The presiding judge Alan Large said: "We have to consider whether it can be dealt with in another way. We do not believe it can."

"We have determined the severity of the crime means it can only be resolved by prison time."

He told Webber: "She had the strength and intelligence to demand you halt and told you to go to bed, but you continued to the point she believed she wouldn't be safe from you even if she went back to her own accommodation."

He continued: "The next morning, she made the complaint to her loved ones, her companions and her chain of command."

"Following the report, the unit decided to address your behavior with minor administrative action."

"You underwent questioning and you admitted your actions had been improper. You wrote a written apology."

"Your military service continued unimpeded and you were subsequently advanced to Warrant Officer 1."

Background Information

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

At the moment, the accused was given a "minor administrative action interview" with no further consequences.

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

A separate service member, her commanding individual, sent her more than 4,600 SMS communications confessing his feelings for her, in addition to a multi-page "personal account" detailing his "fantasies about her."

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Organizational Reaction

The armed forces said it provided its "heartfelt apologies" to the soldier and her relatives.

"We remain sincerely regretful for the deficiencies that were noted at the official inquiry in winter."

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