Off The Record

A 19-Year-Old Soldier Was Discovered Dead At The Base After His Supervisor “Bombarded Her By Sending 3,600 Texts In One Month”

Published on February 11, 2025

Following several ‘unwelcome’ texts from her employer, a teenage soldier was found dead at base camp, according to an inquiry.

On December 15, 2021, Jaysley Beck, a 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner, was discovered at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire, UK.

She also told an inquiry that she was “scared” by her boss’s “psychotic and possessive” behavior because she thought he had hacked her phone.

According to a service inquiry report released in October 2023, Bombardier Ryan Mason’s “intense period” of messaging was a “casual factor” in her death, according to Sky News.

According to reports, Beck received 3,600 SMS in November alone, out of a total of several thousand sent between October and December 2021.

Leighann McCready, the mother of Gunner Beck, stated at the Salisbury inquest that her daughter ‘did not feel safe’ over time.

Mason, whom Beck assisted in supporting since she said he had mental health issues, sent several unwanted messages on WhatsApp.

Some of the texts from Mason read: “Love you Jayse. As a friend,” and “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.”

One particular message prompted a response, as she wrote on 25 November: “This whole falling in love with me, its 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.”

According to McCready, Mason ‘was overstepping,’ and her daughter informed the family that he was ‘becoming a creep.’.

Beck even wrote that she was afraid that Mason was watching her, and on 4 December, she said: “It’s snapping me. I have replied to you and in the space of a couple of minutes you sent three texts and tried to phone me. Can you understand why I think it’s a bit too much?”

The mother acknowledged that her daughter had called to accuse Mason of hacking her phone, calling him “a bit obsessive,” and that she thought he would plan more business trips with her than with other coworkers.

Beck called her mother “upset and crying” on December 7th, thinking that something was about to happen because she was growing increasingly concerned that her phone was being tracked.

The inquest also saw a draft text that she planned to send Mason, which read, “I honestly feel trapped in this whole situation. I have tried to act as normal as possible because we are working together but there is nothing normal about this situation.”

“It’s possessive and psychotic; you have to understand it’s not normal behavior.”

“I am struggling to deal with all of this; it’s taking a huge toll on my own mental health for many personal reasons. I need time out.”

However, Beck didn’t voice any complaints because she was worried about her army reputation. McCready clarified that Beck was also distressed by her uncle’s suicide in August 2020 and had recently ended a relationship.

The 19-year-old also told the inquest that in July 2021, while on a team-building trip close to Emsworth, a sergeant put his hand “between her legs” and molested her.

Only a minimal fine was imposed on the sergeant in question, and Beck was dissatisfied with his letter of apology, as he asserted that his door remained open to her. This was described as ‘potentially a factor’ in the Army service inquiry report, which could have prevented her from reporting on ‘additional occurrences that happened thereafter.’.

According to the study, she died as a result of family issues, including a bereavement, even though her family denies this.

The “significant strain” of having a sexual relationship with a married coworker in the final weeks of her life, a relationship that ended in November 2021 and involved “repeated allegations of unfaithfulness on the part of the boyfriend,” and drinking habits that included “binge drinking” were also cited as contributing factors.

According to the statement, Beck did not seek welfare assistance and has no mental health issues.

The inquest is still going on.