A British woman was strangled in the UK – why did the US military try her case?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is The Guardian.
Today, a British citizen was assaulted in Cambridge. Why did the US military decide her case? And just before we start, today's episode does include discussions of sexual and physical assault. So please take care.
Look at them in their uniforms.
It's the spring of this year and Guardian investigations reporter Harry Davis is in the east of England.
My colleague Rob Evans and I, we're in the car and we are driving through a very luscious green English countryside in Suffolk.
Their destination, one of the many US military bases scattered across the UK.
What happened to the British citizen Sarah Steele in Cambridge?
RAF Dakenheath, gate number one.
It's called RAF Lakenheath. US Air Force planes use it as a base, even heading off to conflict zones like Iran.
Why did the US military decide to try Sarah Steele's case?
As you approach the base, you realise that you're approaching something secretive because there is a high perimeter fence, barbed wire. Unauthorised persons entering the area may be arrested and prosecuted. There are armed guards who check you in and they have very large guns and you enter into this little slice of America, as it were. It reminds me a bit of a university campus, doesn't it? There are certain vehicles that are clearly American. And then there are also, you know, restaurants and things like Taco Bell. That's actually a drive-thru. And there's also a sort of miniature Statue of Liberty on the base. It feels like it's a little kind of pocket of Americana in West Suffolk.
Harry and Rob then make their way to a bland brick structure. The building looks like a sort of 90s, very modern building. It's the base's courtroom. And it's here where U.S. Air Force personnel are court-martialed.
You walk in and one of the things that strikes you is you feel like you've somehow been transported to either an American film set or just a room in, I don't know, Washington, D.C.,
Harry and Rob are here to sit in on the trial of a US fighter pilot accused of sexual assault and strangulation in Cambridge. Also in court that day is the alleged victim, Sarah Steele, an Australian-born UK citizen. And she's still coming to terms with the fact that her case will be decided not by a British judge or jury, but by the American military.
These courtrooms look really different. They look like what you see in Law and Order. They look like a miniaturised, militarised version of Hollywood. At the end of the day, they play the national anthem of the host country and the American national anthem. And it's played across the loudspeakers, across the whole base. But that kind of happened in the middle of being... in the courtroom too. And you're in the middle of something that is incredibly distressing and incredibly difficult to do. This happens on a US base in this big black box that you don't see until you're thrown into it. And it's happening quite literally behind gates, behind fences. You don't understand it until you're thoroughly in it and then there's no going back.
From The Guardian, I'm Annie Kelly. Today in Focus, the US military cause dispensing justice in the UK.
Harry Davis, welcome back to Today in Focus. Harry, you've just published this extraordinary investigation which looks into how crimes committed on British soil can end up being heard in US military courts in the UK. You looked at one particular case which involved a US fighter pilot who was accused of assault by a woman who lives in the east of England.
So could you tell me your name?
My name's Sarah Steele.
What is the significance of US military bases in the UK regarding legal jurisdiction?
I am 42 years old. And you spoke with her. So could you tell me a bit about her?
So Sarah Steele was born in Australia.
I'm from Adelaide.
And then in 2007, she moved to the UK to begin her doctorate in law and criminology. She's now an academic and researcher. She focuses on public policy and has a particular expertise in violence against women and girls.
For a long time I've taught consent workshops, sexual safety training within things like the NHS.
She's a fiercely intelligent woman. She's a mother of one and she's a keen ice skater and I think by all accounts very good.
I absolutely love the ice. I love the peace of it.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:54
2
What happened to the British citizen Sarah Steele in Cambridge?
0:54–1:05
3
Why did the US military decide to try Sarah Steele's case?
1:05–4:23
4
What is the significance of US military bases in the UK regarding legal jurisdiction?
4:23–27:29
5
What events led to Sarah Steele meeting Jacob Wilson?
27:29–37:14