Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, dies at Larkhill Camp after reporting abuse

Jaysley Beck, a 19-year-old Gunner in the Royal Artillery, died at Larkhill Camp, an Army base in Wiltshire, in December 2021. She took her own life. She had been serving there for a relatively short time.

Before her death, Beck had reported being sexually harassed and sexually assaulted by colleagues. Her family said she had not been properly protected after raising her concerns, and they campaigned for answers about how the complaint had been handled.

An inquest later examined her death and criticised the way the armed forces' complaints system dealt with her case. The coroner's findings pointed to failures in how serious allegations were handled and in the support offered to a young soldier who had come forward.

Her death became one of the best-known cases in a wider debate about the treatment of women in the British military. It added pressure on the Ministry of Defence to reform how complaints of harassment and assault are reported, investigated and followed up, and it is often cited in calls for stronger protection for female personnel.