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-   -   US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :( (https://britishexpats.com/forum/trailer-park-96/us-diplomats-wife-kills-biker-uk-then-flees-country-928357/)

lansbury Oct 7th 2019 7:12 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by civilservant (Post 12745204)
Actually it protects from a civil judgement too - even non payment of debts such as a credit card.


Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12745206)

Interesting, thanks.

At one time the US Embassy owed the most in outstanding congestion charges in London, but I seem to recall they were overtaken by the Nigerians. Something else they are immune from.

neill Oct 7th 2019 7:12 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12745199)
It seems she’d only been in the U.K. a short while, so may have been confused about driving on the left or the right. Just a few seconds of disorientation, and you can have a head-on collision. So that raises a question; on US bases in the U.K., do they drive on the left or the right? Hopefully, on the left. If they drive on the right, it’s going to be very confusing when they drive out onto the road.

I suspect the right, because they mostly drive imported US vehicles which does not help at all.

materialcontroller Oct 7th 2019 7:22 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12745199)
So that raises a question; on US bases in the U.K., do they drive on the left or the right? Hopefully, on the left. If they drive on the right, it’s going to be very confusing when they drive out onto the road.


Originally Posted by neill (Post 12745212)
I suspect the right, because they mostly drive imported US vehicles which does not help at all.

I worked at Upper Heyford for a time in the 1990's and driving was on the left, just as it is in any other part of the UK. It's worth remembering that, at least AFAIK, "US bases" in the UK are still prefixed by "RAF" and the Americans are only invited to use them.

As it happens, the base at Croughton where this accident took place, was a sub base of Upper Heyford back in the 90's, along with RAF Bicester. Now it's the only one of the three left operational.

dc koop Oct 7th 2019 7:22 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12745199)
It seems she’d only been in the U.K. a short while, so may have been confused about driving on the left or the right. Just a few seconds of disorientation, and you can have a head-on collision. So that raises a question; on US bases in the U.K., do they drive on the left or the right? Hopefully, on the left. If they drive on the right, it’s going to be very confusing when they drive out onto the road.

I think the US bases are RAF installations so the road layout would be to the left

lansbury Oct 7th 2019 7:43 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by materialcontroller (Post 12745216)

As it happens, the base at Croughton where this accident took place, was a sub base of Upper Heyford back in the 90's, along with RAF Bicester. Now it's the only one of the three left operational.

Croughton is used as a base for the US Intelligence community.

To be living there and have family immunity, the ladies husband must be quite a senior member of that community. There is noway in a month of Sundays the US would let her be questioned about the time of day, let alone anything else.

materialcontroller Oct 7th 2019 8:32 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by lansbury (Post 12745221)
There is noway in a month of Sundays the US would let her be questioned about the time of day, let alone anything else.

I don't think most people expected any different tbh :(

BritInParis Oct 16th 2019 12:44 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by lansbury (Post 12745221)
Croughton is used as a base for the US Intelligence community.

To be living there and have family immunity, the ladies husband must be quite a senior member of that community. There is noway in a month of Sundays the US would let her be questioned about the time of day, let alone anything else.

Few people get full diplomatic immunity and it would be unusual for an intelligence operative based at a RAF base to have it. As they do not appear on the Diplomatic List then that would reinforce that assumption. Technical staff have very limited immunity which usually only applies during the execution of their duties. It’s now being reported that the lady in question may have incorrectly been granted immunity before she departed the UK. If so the UK could request extradition. It’ll be up to the US authorities whether to grant it however this seems very unlikely at the moment.

robin1234 Oct 16th 2019 2:14 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 
I just read that President Trump met the parents at the WH, then tried to get them to meet Mrs Sacoolas. A reality TV photo op.

This is what Trump seems to think his job is ...

tht Oct 16th 2019 2:54 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...-traffic-death

You are going to be hard pushed to find a picture of her husband online, my guess is maybe his high school yearbook if he was not given a new name... even the pictures of her look like they could be from a long time ago.

Octang Frye Oct 16th 2019 2:59 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12749301)
I just read that President Trump met the parents at the WH, then tried to get them to meet Mrs Sacoolas. A reality TV photo op.

This is what Trump seems to think his job is ...

What an erudite analysis. And behind this door... Shameful and classless to spring that on them. Kudos to the poor parents for not being manipulated like this.

mikelincs Oct 16th 2019 3:58 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12749301)
I just read that President Trump met the parents at the WH, then tried to get them to meet Mrs Sacoolas. A reality TV photo op.

This is what Trump seems to think his job is ...


Two things there, they were badly advised to have gone to the US in the first place, and then even worse advice to have gone to the WH, they should have realised that Trump would try to use it as a publicity stunt.

lansbury Oct 16th 2019 5:13 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by BritInParis (Post 12749253)
Few people get full diplomatic immunity and it would be unusual for an intelligence operative based at a RAF base to have it. As they do not appear on the Diplomatic List then that would reinforce that assumption. Technical staff have very limited immunity which usually only applies during the execution of their duties. It’s now being reported that the lady in question may have incorrectly been granted immunity before she departed the UK. If so the UK could request extradition. It’ll be up to the US authorities whether to grant it however this seems very unlikely at the moment.

Indeed, it is very unusual for immunity to cover people working away from the Embassy. But in the case of those at this RAF base I believe there is a special agreement in place that grants it to them, and in some cases their families.

I have seen it said that now she is back in the States she doesn't have immunity, but the way those comments were written conveys the understanding that is because she is no longer in the UK. The only comments implying she didn't have immunity at all, that I saw, came from the Dunn family lawyer. The information I have read has been poorly written and not clear in its meaning at all. However that premise is given some credence by the speed with which the Americans removed her from the UK, and the fact they appear to have used military transport to take her home.


BritInParis Oct 18th 2019 12:09 am

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 

Originally Posted by lansbury (Post 12749410)
Indeed, it is very unusual for immunity to cover people working away from the Embassy. But in the case of those at this RAF base I believe there is a special agreement in place that grants it to them, and in some cases their families.

I have seen it said that now she is back in the States she doesn't have immunity, but the way those comments were written conveys the understanding that is because she is no longer in the UK. The only comments implying she didn't have immunity at all, that I saw, came from the Dunn family lawyer. The information I have read has been poorly written and not clear in its meaning at all. However that premise is given some credence by the speed with which the Americans removed her from the UK, and the fact they appear to have used military transport to take her home.

SOP for US military and diplomatic personnel, immunity or not. The Cavalese cable car disaster springs to mind. A slap on the wrist when they get home, maybe dismissed from service, but that’s it.

spouse of scouse Oct 18th 2019 1:54 am

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 
I tried to overcome my habit of avoiding Trump videos and began watching a clip of him talking about the meeting. That didn't last long, he started talking about the 'beautiful meeting' and the 'beautiful family' and I reached my tolerance level.

lizzyq Oct 18th 2019 12:43 pm

Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
 
My tolerance lasts about 5 seconds into hearing his voice, something about it is like squeaky chalk on a blackboard for me so I do my best to read what he has said rather than listen.


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