Bizarre questions and an all-male ‘jury’: woman strangled by US pilot in Britain tells of airbase trial
Sarah Steele waives anonymity to call for greater scrutiny of how US military courts are allowed to ‘rip apart’ vulnerable witnesses in the UK
TL;DR
- Sarah Steele, a British academic, was strangled by US fighter pilot Jacob Wulfson in Cambridge, England.
- Wulfson was tried in a US military court martial at RAF Lakenheath, rather than through the British criminal justice system.
- Steele describes the US military justice process as "distressing and degrading," "archaic and bizarre," and "military first, justice second."
- The court martial resulted in Wulfson's conviction for strangulation but acquittal for sexual assault.
- Steele criticizes the lack of transparency and victim consultation when UK police cede jurisdiction to the US military.
- She highlights the potential for victims to be subjected to unfamiliar and aggressive legal processes.
- Legal experts suggest Wulfson might have faced more serious charges and a harsher sentence in the British system.
- Steele calls for increased scrutiny of how cases involving visiting US military personnel are handled by UK authorities.