A soldier who became overwhelmed by her colleague’s obsessive behavior received 3,600 messages from him shortly before her death, an inquest has heard.In December 2021, Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead at her base camp in Wiltshire, UK, after becoming fearful of her ‘psychotic and possessive’ superior.According to Sky News, Bombardier Ryan Mason made the teenager feel ‘trapped’ and ‘unsafe’ at work, and she was concerned that he had hacked her mobile phone.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found dead in December 2021
The inquest also heard that Gunner Beck chose to sleep in her car rather than return to her designated quarters due to their proximity to her boss, who had sent her 3,600 WhatsApp messages in November alone.One of the messages Mason sent to Beck read: “Love you, Jayse. As a friend.”Another stated: “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.”On November 25, Gunner Beck responded to one of Mason’s messages, saying:**“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 another exchange, she expressed that their conversation was ‘snapping’ her.
The teenager previously claimed her boss was ‘stalking’ her
“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?”
Sky News reports that this ‘intense period’ of messaging—predominantly between October and December 2021—was later described in an Army report as an ‘almost certain’ causal factor in Gunner Beck’s death.During the Salisbury-based inquest, Gunner Beck’s mother, Leighann McCready, stated that Mason “was overstepping”, emphasizing how her daughter “did not feel safe” as time went on.She also claimed that her daughter had confided in the family, saying he was “becoming a creep” and that she suspected the ‘obsessive’ man had hacked her phone.The inquest heard that on December 7, McCready received a tearful phone call from her daughter, who expressed fear that something might happen.“There was a time when she was on the phone to me and said, ‘Mum, I think he’s hacked my phone because he knows exactly where I am standing, and he’s meant to be away,’” McCready recounted.A draft text message that Gunner Beck seemingly intended to send to Mason was also read out:**”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 that this is not normal behavior.”I am struggling to deal with all of this. It’s taking a huge toll on my mental health for many personal reasons. I need time out.”**Meanwhile, Bombardier John Wheeler told the inquest that he had a close relationship with Gunner Beck.
Gunner Beck received 3,600 messages from her colleague in the month leading up to her death
He described her as a ‘bubbly person’ who had become ‘more and more down’ in the weeks leading up to her death, the BBC reports.The Army service inquiry report, published in October 2023, stated that a previous complaint of assault made by the teenager was ‘possibly a factor that may have influenced her failure to report other events that happened subsequently.’It was reported that the alleged perpetrator had “put his hand between her legs” in a separate incident during a team-building stay in Hampshire in July 2021. She later received an apology letter from the sergeant involved, who was given a minor sanction.During the ongoing inquest, it was also stated that Beck had no pre-existing mental health conditions and had not sought welfare support.
