US Military Court Martial System in UK Faces Scrutiny
Quick Look
- A little-known US military court martial system for crimes committed in the UK is under scrutiny.
- Academic Sarah Steele described her experience of being tried by an all-male air force jury after being strangled by a US pilot in Cambridge.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
A system exists where US military personnel accused of crimes in the UK are tried under US military justice. Academic Sarah Steele shared her negative experience with this system.
A little-known system in which US military personnel are tried through a court martial for alleged crimes committed in the UK is under growing scrutiny.
One person who has been through that system is the academic Sarah Steele.
Steele told the Guardian investigations correspondent Harry Davies that after she was strangled one night by Jacob Wulfson, a US fighter pilot who lived in a flat in Cambridge, her case was taken up by the US military justice system.
The members of the jury at her trial were all men from the air force.
“ It’s been really difficult having to literally sit in a room full of people in uniform, overwhelmingly older men, and have those individuals who haven’t any semblance of life experience similar to my own; they were culturally different,” she said.
Open Questions
- Extent of US military jurisdiction in UK?
- Fairness of all-male military juries?
- Recourse for victims of US military crimes in UK?
