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An ex- Army sergeant major has been given 180 days in custody for attacking a teenage servicewoman who afterwards ended her life.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber, in his forties, restrained soldier the young woman and sought to make physical contact in July 2021. She was discovered deceased several months after in her military accommodation at the Wiltshire base.

The convicted individual, who was judged at the Court Martial Centre in the Wiltshire region recently, will be transferred to a public jail and registered as sex offenders register for multiple years.

Gunner Beck's mother Ms. Mcready remarked: "What he [Webber] did, and how the Army failed to protect our child afterwards, led to her death."

Military Response

The Army stated it failed to hear Gunner Beck, who was a native of Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she reported the assault and has apologised for its response to her allegations.

After a formal inquiry regarding Gunner Beck's death, Webber confessed to a single charge of sexual assault in last fall.

The grieving parent said her young woman could have been alongside her relatives in the courtroom now, "to witness the individual she reported brought to justice for his actions."

"Rather, we stand here without her, living a life sentence that no relatives should ever have to face," she added.

"She complied with procedures, but the individuals in charge didn't follow theirs. Such negligence broke our young woman totally."

Press Association

Court Proceedings

The judicial body was advised that the incident happened during an adventure training exercise at the training location, near Hampshire's Emsworth, in mid-2021.

The sergeant, a ranking soldier at the time, initiated inappropriate contact towards the soldier after an social gathering while on duty for a field training.

Gunner Beck testified the sergeant said he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be alone" before grabbing her leg, pinning her down, and trying to kiss her.

She made official allegations against Webber after the assault, regardless of pressure by superiors to persuade her not to.

A formal investigation into her death found the armed forces' response of the complaint played "more than a minimal contributory part in her death."

Mother's Testimony

In a account shared to the tribunal during proceedings, the parent, said: "She had only become nineteen and will eternally stay a teenager full of vitality and joy."

"She trusted authorities to protect her and after what he did, the trust was lost. She was extremely troubled and scared of the accused."

"I witnessed the transformation personally. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That assault destroyed her trust in the structure that was supposed to look after her."

Sentencing Remarks

While delivering judgment, Judge Advocate General the magistrate stated: "We must evaluate whether it can be handled in another way. We do not consider it can."

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

He spoke to the convicted individual: "She had the bravery and wisdom to instruct you to cease and directed you to leave the area, but you carried on to the point she believed she could not feel secure from you even if she returned to her personal quarters."

He added: "The next morning, she made the complaint to her family, her companions and her commanding officers."

"Subsequent to the allegations, the command decided to handle the situation with minor administrative action."

"You were interviewed and you acknowledged your behavior had been unacceptable. You wrote a letter of apology."

"Your military service continued unimpeded and you were in due course advanced to higher rank."

Further Details

At the investigation into the tragic passing, the investigating officer said a commanding officer pressured her to cease proceedings, and just informed it to a military leadership "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the moment, Webber was given a "minor administrative action interview" with no serious repercussions.

The inquiry was also told that mere weeks after the violation the servicewoman had additionally been exposed to "continuous bullying" by a different service member.

Bombardier Ryan Mason, her commanding individual, directed toward her more than 4,600 text messages declaring attachments for her, accompanied by a 15-page "personal account" detailing his "imagined scenarios."

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Institutional Response

The Army said it offered its "heartfelt apologies" to Gunner Beck and her family.

"We remain sincerely regretful for the shortcomings that were discovered at the formal investigation in February."

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