Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
An inquest into the death of a 19-year-old soldier has heard that she became 'scared' by the 'psychotic and possessive' behaviour of her boss, and was afraid he'd hacked her phone to send her thousands of messages.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021 after an 'intense period of unwelcome behaviour' from Bombardier Ryan Mason.
An Army report from 2023 concluded that they were 'almost certain' this was a causal factor in her death.
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Jaysley's mother Leighann McCready told the inquest her daughter 'did not feel safe', and the hearing was shown a series of messages sent between October and December 2021, of which there were thousands sent in one month alone.
On 21 October he wrote 'Love you Jayse. As a friend' and then on 27 October he sent a message to her saying 'I’m renaming you in my phone as the magician'.
On 11 November he sent the message: "You’re amazing Jayse, I appreciate you so much, I love everything about you, even your flaws.
“I will always be there along for the ride with you, I have said it before but you’re stuck with me forever now. I love you x As a friend, I love you."
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In the month of November alone, Jaysley's mother said that her daughter was sent 3,600 text messages.
On 25 November, Jaysley wrote back: "This whole falling in love with me, it's becoming a bit too much, I have just come out of a relationship and I’m just not wanting to be involved in anything like this.
“It’s weighing me down a little bit, I’ll be totally honest with you.
"Totally honest here, I just don’t want to hear how you feel about me.”
In further text messages she said it felt like he was 'watching' her and told him 'I have replied to you and in the space of a couple of minutes you sent three texts and tried to phone me' asking him if he could understand how she thought this was 'a bit too much'.
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The inquest heard from McCready that Gunner Beck thought Mason was 'a bit obsessive' and at one point told her mother: "I think he’s hacked my phone because he knows exactly where I am standing and he’s meant to be away."
Also shown was a draft text from Gunner Beck that she had planned to send to Mason saying she felt 'trapped in this whole situation' and his behaviour was 'possessive and psychotic'.
Bombardier John Wheeler said he had a close relationship with Gunner Beck and that she was a 'bubbly person' but could see she had become 'more and more down' in the weeks before her death.
He claimed that she had sent him excerpts from a 'love story' that Mason had written where the characters were aliases for him and Gunner Beck.
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Bombardier Wheeler said that he believed the book would amount to sexual harassment.
The inquest also heard that the 19-year-old complained of being assaulted by a sergeant on a team-building stay near Emsworth, where he put his hand 'between her legs' in July 2021.
The sergeant only received a minor sanction and an apology letter from him wasn't received well by Beck, as he said that 'his door was open' to her.
The Army service inquiry report detailed this as 'possibly a factor' that may have stopped her from reporting on 'other events that happened subsequently'.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Joe Harker