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An ex- military sergeant has been ordered to serve six months in jail for committing sexual assault against a teenage servicewoman who later took her own life.

Sergeant Major Michael Webber, forty-three, pinned down service member the victim and attempted to kiss her in the summer of 2021. She was located without signs of life several months after in her barracks at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

The defendant, who was given his punishment at the legal proceedings in the Wiltshire region recently, will be transferred to a civilian prison and registered as offender database for seven years.

Gunner Beck's mother Ms. Mcready stated: "What he [Webber] did, and how the Army neglected to defend our child following the incident, led to her death."

Official Reaction

The armed forces acknowledged 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 handling of her report.

After a formal inquiry regarding the tragic death, the accused pleaded guilty to one count of physical violation in last fall.

The mother said her daughter ought to have been alongside her loved ones in legal proceedings now, "to observe the individual she reported facing consequences for what he did."

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

"She complied with procedures, but the individuals in charge didn't follow theirs. These shortcomings destroyed our daughter totally."

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Court Proceedings

The court was informed that the incident occurred during an adventure training exercise at the training location, near the Hampshire area, in mid-2021.

The accused, a Sergeant Major at the period, made a sexual advance towards Gunner Beck following an alcohol consumption while on assignment for a training exercise.

Gunner Beck testified the accused said he had been "waiting for a moment for them to be in private" before making physical contact, restraining her, and making unwanted advances.

She reported the incident against the accused following the incident, regardless of pressure by military leadership to discourage her.

A formal investigation into her suicide found the military's management of the report played "a significant contributory part in her suicide."

Parent's Account

In a account presented to the judicial body previously, Ms McCready, stated: "Our daughter had recently celebrated nineteen and will always be a young person full of energy and happiness."

"She believed people to protect her and after what he did, the faith was gone. She was deeply distressed and fearful of the sergeant."

"I saw the transformation before my own eyes. She felt powerless and betrayed. That incident destroyed her trust in the system that was meant to protect her."

Court Ruling

During sentencing, The presiding judge the judge remarked: "We have to consider whether it can be dealt with in another way. We do not consider it can."

"We are satisfied the severity of the offence means it can only be resolved by immediate custody."

He spoke to the defendant: "The victim had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and told you to go to bed, but you persisted to the point she felt she wouldn't be safe from you even if she retreated to her own accommodation."

He stated further: "The next morning, she reported the incident to her relatives, her acquaintances and her commanding officers."

"Subsequent to the allegations, the military unit opted to address your behavior with light disciplinary measures."

"You were subject to inquiry and you acknowledged your behavior had been improper. You composed a letter of apology."

"Your career advanced unimpeded and you were in due course elevated to Warrant Officer 1."

Background Information

At the inquest into the tragic passing, the coroner said Capt James Hook influenced her to withdraw the complaint, and merely disclosed it to a superior officers "after information had leaked."

At the moment, Webber was given a "light disciplinary meeting" with no further consequences.

The inquest was further advised that only a short time after the assault Gunner Beck had additionally been subjected to "relentless harassment" by another soldier.

A separate service member, her commanding individual, transmitted to her numerous text messages confessing his feelings for her, along with a fifteen-page "romantic narrative" outlining his "imagined scenarios."

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Organizational Reaction

The armed forces said it offered its "deepest sympathies" to the soldier and her loved ones.

"We remain deeply apologetic for the shortcomings that were discovered at the official inquiry in February."

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