A court martial has heard that two army officers allegedly "let down" a teenage soldier, Jaysley Beck, who later took her own life, by not properly addressing a sexual assault allegation she made against a superior. The court was told that 19-year-old Ms Beck informed Col Samantha Shepherd that a warrant officer had touched her leg during a social event at an adventure training exercise in July 2021.
Col Shepherd is accused of misrepresenting Ms Beck's account, allegedly stating there had been no physical contact when reporting the claim. The second officer, Maj James Hook, reportedly failed to take the incident seriously and was sceptical of Ms Beck's report, believing she wanted to leave the training package.
Both Col Shepherd and Maj Hook deny charges of "conduct prejudicial to good order and service discipline." Col Shepherd is accused of misreporting information, while Maj Hook allegedly did not treat information passed to him with appropriate seriousness. The trial is continuing at Catterick in North Yorkshire.