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

Sergeant Major Michael Webber, 43, pinned down service member the victim and tried to make physical contact in mid-2021. She was located without signs of life half a year following in her barracks at Larkhill, Wiltshire.

Webber, who was given his punishment at the Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire earlier, will be placed in a correctional facility and listed on offender database for multiple years.

The victim's mother Leighann Mcready commented: "His actions, and how the armed forces neglected to defend our child subsequently, resulted in her suicide."

Official Reaction

The Army acknowledged it did not listen to the soldier, who was hailing from the Cumbrian village, when she filed the complaint and has said sorry for its management of her complaint.

Following an investigation of the soldier's suicide, the defendant confessed to the offense of physical violation in the autumn.

Ms McCready commented her young woman could have been alongside her family in court today, "to see the man she accused held accountable for what he did."

"Rather, we are present missing her, facing perpetual grief that no loved ones should ever have to face," she added.

"She followed the rules, but the accountable parties didn't follow theirs. Such negligence destroyed our daughter completely."

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Judicial Process

The legal tribunal was told that the violation occurred during an military training at Thorney Island, near Emsworth in Hampshire, in mid-2021.

The accused, a Sergeant Major at the moment, made a sexual advance towards the servicewoman after an social gathering while on deployment for a training exercise.

Gunner Beck stated Webber said he had been "anticipating an opportunity for them to be by themselves" before making physical contact, pinning her down, and making unwanted advances.

She made official allegations against Webber after the incident, despite attempts by military leadership to discourage her.

An official inquiry into her death found the armed forces' response of the report played "an important contributory part in her suicide."

Parent's Account

In a statement read out to the court during proceedings, Ms McCready, said: "She had only become 19 and will eternally stay a youth full of life and laughter."

"She trusted authorities to safeguard her and post-incident, the confidence was lost. She was very upset and fearful of the accused."

"I witnessed the transformation firsthand. She felt vulnerable and abandoned. That violation destroyed her trust in the system that was meant to look after her."

Sentencing Remarks

During sentencing, Judge Advocate General Alan Large stated: "We need to assess whether it can be handled in a different manner. We are not convinced it can."

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

He told Webber: "The servicewoman had the bravery and wisdom to demand you halt and told you to leave the area, but you continued to the extent she considered she would remain in danger from you even when she returned to her assigned barracks."

He continued: "The following day, she made the complaint to her relatives, her friends and her commanding officers."

"Following the report, the military unit decided to address your behavior with minimal consequences."

"You were interviewed and you admitted your conduct had been inappropriate. You prepared a letter of apology."

"Your professional path continued without interruption and you were eventually promoted to Warrant Officer 1."

Background Information

At the formal inquiry into the soldier's suicide, the coroner said a commanding officer influenced her to drop the allegations, and merely disclosed it to a military leadership "when the cat was already out of the bag."

At the period, Webber was given a "minimal consequence discussion" with no serious repercussions.

The investigation was also told that mere weeks after the incident the servicewoman had further been subjected to "relentless harassment" by another soldier.

Bombardier Ryan Mason, her superior officer, directed toward her over four thousand six hundred digital communications declaring attachments for her, along with a multi-page "personal account" detailing his "imagined scenarios."

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Official Statement

The Army expressed it extended its "heartfelt apologies" to the servicewoman and her family.

"We remain profoundly sorry for the shortcomings that were identified at the formal investigation in early this year."

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