UK police should not have let US force take over airbase trial, MoD documents show

The Ministry of Defence has privately criticized Cambridgeshire police for allowing the US military to take over the investigation into Capt Jacob Wulfson, who was accused of sexually assaulting and strangling British woman Sarah Steele in Cambridge. The decision meant Wulfson faced a military tribunal on a US airbase in Suffolk rather than a British criminal court.

An all-male jury of Wulfson's fellow air force officers convicted him of strangling an intimate partner but acquitted him of sexual assault. He was dismissed from the US Air Force and confined to a military jail for six months. Steele described her experience testifying at the court martial as "degrading and distressing".

Jurisdictional dispute

MoD officials stated that Cambridgeshire police should "absolutely" not have handed the investigation to US military police, calling it a clear breach of a decades-old agreement between the US and UK. According to the agreement, UK police have primary right to investigate alleged crimes by Americans stationed in the country, except when offences were committed on duty or against military personnel.

In a memo dated July 8, MoD officials based in Washington wrote: "The Steele case does not, on the surface, appear to meet the bar for a visiting force to be awarded jurisdiction." Another official agreed that "as best as we understand the facts, this should absolutely have been for the UK courts."

Government response

The Guardian's disclosure of the case in June provoked immediate criticism from Downing Street, which described it as "deeply distressing" and "very concerning" that UK authorities were not involved in prosecuting Wulfson. The government has since established a high-level inquiry examining how police forces have been transferring investigations to US military police.

The cross-government inquiry involves officials from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Foreign Office, and police chiefs. It is scrutinizing multiple cases where UK police handed investigations to US military personnel despite the perpetrators being off-duty and victims having no military connections.

Pattern of cases

The Guardian uncovered several similar cases this year. Tyrion Davis allegedly raped two women in Suffolk but was convicted of only one sexual assault charge after his case was handled by US military police. Hannes Marschalek, who exposed himself to a 16-year-old girl and four young women, had his conviction quashed on technical grounds after a plea bargain.

With over 12,000 US military personnel stationed across at least 15 UK facilities, concerns are growing about British victims being subjected to unfamiliar US military courts that may not provide the same protections as British courts. Cambridgeshire police stated they are reviewing the case with assistance from US Air Force lawyers and remain engaged with the victim.