UK police should not have let US military prosecute American fighter pilot who strangled a British woman, officials say
UK officials have said Cambridgeshire police should not have handed the investigation into Captain Jacob Wulfson to the US military. The case was tried at a US military tribunal rather than in a British court, prompting the government to open an inquiry into whether the transfer complied with the rules.
Wulfson was accused by Sarah Steele of drugging, raping and strangling her at his Cambridge flat while he was off duty. He was acquitted of aggravated sexual assault but convicted of strangling her and disobeying an order not to contact her. The UK-US agreement generally allows the US military to take jurisdiction when an offence is committed on duty or against a member of its forces or its property; officials said the case did not appear to meet those conditions.
In short
- Officials say police wrongly handed the case to US military authorities.
- Wulfson was acquitted of sexual assault but convicted of strangling Steele.
- The government has launched an inquiry into how jurisdiction was transferred.
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The case for
The UK should have retained the case because the alleged crime took place in Britain, involved a British woman and, officials say, did not appear to meet the agreement’s grounds for US military jurisdiction. A British court could have applied domestic law and ensured the public could scrutinise how a serious offence against a local resident was handled.
The case against
The US military’s jurisdiction may have been defensible if the governing agreement or facts supported its involvement, and a military tribunal did convict Wulfson of strangling Steele and disobeying a no-contact order. Supporters of the transfer could argue that following established jurisdictional procedures respects the bilateral arrangement and avoids assuming that a trial in a military court is inherently less fair.
Explained simply
British police investigate crimes that happen in the UK, while agreements between the UK and US set out when American service personnel can be tried by US military courts. Those rules generally give the US military jurisdiction for offences committed on duty or involving US forces or property.
Captain Jacob Wulfson was an American fighter pilot based in Cambridgeshire. Sarah Steele accused him of drugging, raping and strangling her at his flat; a US military tribunal acquitted him of aggravated sexual assault but convicted him of strangling her and disobeying an order not to contact her.
The case has raised questions about how police decide which country’s legal system should handle an investigation. The UK government has opened an inquiry into whether transferring the case to the US military followed the rules.
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