Former Sergeant Major Sentenced for Sexual Assault on Young Servicewoman

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An ex- service sergeant has been sentenced to half a year in custody for sexually assaulting a teenage servicewoman who later ended her life.

Warrant Officer the former sergeant, forty-three, restrained service member the victim and sought to make physical contact in July 2021. She was discovered deceased several months after in her military accommodation at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

The defendant, who was sentenced at the military court in the Wiltshire region previously, will be transferred to a correctional facility and registered as sex offenders register for multiple years.

The family matriarch Ms. Mcready commented: "What he [Webber] did, and how the Army neglected to defend our young woman subsequently, led to her death."

Military Response

The Army said it failed to hear the soldier, who was a native of Cumbria's Oxen Park, when she filed the complaint and has said sorry for its management of her report.

After an inquest into the soldier's suicide, the defendant admitted to one count of sexual assault in September.

Ms McCready commented her child ought to have been sitting with her loved ones in court this day, "to observe the man she filed against held accountable for what he did."

"Conversely, we stand here in her absence, facing perpetual grief that no relatives should be forced to endure," she stated further.

"She followed the rules, but the accountable parties failed in their duties. Those failures shattered our child utterly."

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Court Proceedings

The legal tribunal was told that the assault occurred during an adventure training exercise at the training location, near Hampshire's Emsworth, in mid-2021.

Webber, a senior officer at the moment, made a sexual advance towards the soldier after an social gathering while on deployment for a field training.

Gunner Beck stated the accused said he had been "waiting for a moment for them to be alone" before taking hold of her, restraining her, and attempting to force intimacy.

She reported the incident against the accused after the assault, despite attempts by commanding officers to persuade her not to.

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

Family Statement

In a testimony shared to the court during proceedings, the mother, stated: "Our daughter had just turned 19 and will forever remain a teenager full of life and laughter."

"She believed people to defend her and following the assault, the faith was gone. She was very upset and fearful of Michael Webber."

"I observed the transformation before my own eyes. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That violation destroyed her trust in the structure that was meant to safeguard her."

Judge's Statement

When announcing the verdict, The presiding judge the judge said: "We need to assess whether it can be addressed in another way. We are not convinced it can."

"We are satisfied the gravity of the offence means it can only be resolved by incarceration."

He told the convicted individual: "The servicewoman had the courage and good sense to tell you to stop and directed you to leave the area, but you carried on to the extent she felt she could not feel secure from you even when she returned to her assigned barracks."

He continued: "The following day, she reported the incident to her relatives, her acquaintances and her military superiors."

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

"You were interviewed and you acknowledged your conduct had been improper. You composed a written apology."

"Your career continued completely unaffected and you were eventually elevated to Warrant Officer 1."

Background Information

At the formal inquiry into the soldier's suicide, the coroner said a commanding officer put pressure on her to cease proceedings, and only reported it to a military leadership "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the period, the accused was given a "minor administrative action interview" with no additional penalties.

The inquiry was also told that just weeks after the incident the soldier had additionally been subjected to "persistent mistreatment" by a different service member.

A separate service member, her superior officer, directed toward her more than 4,600 SMS communications confessing his feelings for her, accompanied by a multi-page "romantic narrative" outlining his "fantasies about her."

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Organizational Reaction

The armed forces said it offered its "sincerest condolences" to the soldier and her family.

"We remain profoundly sorry for the deficiencies that were noted at the official inquiry in February."

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