A soldier who became ‘freaked out’ by her ‘obsessive’ colleague’s behavior received 3,600 messages from him shortly before her death, an inquest has heard.
In December 2021, Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, 19, died at her base camp in Wiltshire, UK, after becoming ‘scared’ by her ‘psychotic and possessive’ boss.
It’s understood that Bombardier Ryan Mason caused the teenager to feel ‘trapped’ and ‘not safe’ at work, as per Sky News, and that she was worried he had hacked her mobile phone.
The inquest further heard that at one point, Gunner Beck opted to sleep in her car rather than return to her designated quarters due to the proximity to her boss, from whom she had received 3,600 messages via WhatsApp in November alone.
One of the text messages Mason sent to the deceased read: “Love you Jayse. As a friend.”
A second said: “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.”
Gunner Beck responded to one of Mason’s messages on November 25: “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.”
In another exchange, the woman said the conversation with her colleague was ‘snapping’ 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 – which predominantly took place between October and December 2021 – was later described in an Army report as an ‘almost certain’ causal factor in Gunner Beck’s death.
Gunner Beck’s mother, Leighann McCready, said during the Salisbury-based inquest that Mason ‘was overstepping’, remarking how her child ‘did not feel safe’ as time went on.
She also claimed that her daughter had told the family he was ‘becoming a creep’ and that she believed the ‘obsessive’ man had hacked her phone.
The inquest heard that on December 7, McCready received a tearful phone call from her daughter, claiming she feared something may 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’,” she recounted.
A draft text message that Gunner Beck also seemingly planned to send Mason was 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 nothing normal about this situation,” she typed.
“It’s possessive and psychotic, you have to understand it’s not normal behaviour.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Bombardier John Wheeler told the inquest he had a close relationship with Gunner Beck.
He described her as a ‘bubbly person’ who had become ‘more and more down’ in the weeks before her death, the BBC writes.
The Army service inquiry report, published in October 2023, said a previous complaint of assault issued by the teenager was ‘possibly a factor that may have influenced her failure to report other events that happened subsequently.’
It’s said the alleged perpetrator had put his ‘had between her legs’ in a separate incident, while on a team-building stay in Hampshire in July 2021, and that she had received an apology letter from the sergeant, who received a minor sanction.
In the ongoing inquest, it was also stated that Beck had no pre-existing mental health conditions and did not seek welfare support.