US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
#61
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Full diplomatic immunity is limited to accredited staff and their families - those whose names appear on the diplomatic list. Technical and consular staff receive far more limited protection for actions carried out during the course of their duties, knocking someone off a motorcycle by driving on the wrong side of the road not being one of them. If she enjoyed that level of protection then they would’ve been no need to spirit her out of the country.
#62
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
The case encapsulates the relationship between Washington and London. Master and servant.
#63
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
#64
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Full diplomatic immunity is limited to accredited staff and their families - those whose names appear on the diplomatic list. Technical and consular staff receive far more limited protection for actions carried out during the course of their duties, knocking someone off a motorcycle by driving on the wrong side of the road not being one of them. If she enjoyed that level of protection then they would’ve been no need to spirit her out of the country.
I agree with Lansbury. She was spirited away to home turf because she/he did not have diplomatic protection but also because once there on home turf extradition would be more than unlikely.
#65
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 12,865
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
The "best" that can be hoped for at this point is that this has a negative impact on her husband's career as an overseas spy. That's hardly a satisfactory form of justice though.
#66
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Unless she has no conscience at all she'll have to live the rest of her life with the memory of killing a young man, of evading any legal consequences, and of what that did to his family and friends. I guess that's a sort of justice on its own but it's not what his family want, his mum's said that she has a lot of sympathy for her. The only way for her to ease her conscience, and the only way for the young man's family to begin to recover, is for this to be dealt with in the correct legal manner. Very sadly, that's not going to happen.
#67
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Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
I cant recall did she stay at the scene or did she hit and run?
#69
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Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Not being arrested right away doesnt seem odd to me, unless drunk or left the scene at least in Canada can take a few weeks to over a year for police to investigate and determine a cause and then reccomend charges if any are to be filed.
Do police arrest quicker in the UK generally?
Do police arrest quicker in the UK generally?
#70
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Not being arrested right away doesnt seem odd to me, unless drunk or left the scene at least in Canada can take a few weeks to over a year for police to investigate and determine a cause and then reccomend charges if any are to be filed.
Do police arrest quicker in the UK generally?
Do police arrest quicker in the UK generally?
#71
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Not being arrested right away doesnt seem odd to me, unless drunk or left the scene at least in Canada can take a few weeks to over a year for police to investigate and determine a cause and then reccomend charges if any are to be filed.
Do police arrest quicker in the UK generally?
Do police arrest quicker in the UK generally?
#72
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Joined: Mar 2017
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Posts: 455
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
I don't think she was ever charged whilst in the UK, and Causing Death by Dangerous Driving seems like overcharging by CPS purely to justify an extradition.
The case is an open and shut example of Causing Death by Careless Driving, which is what I suspect they will drop the charges down to if she ever actually returns to the UK.
#73
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Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Different legal systems I guess, it happens a fair amount here, someone hits a pedestrian/kills someone while driving, police detain for questioning, then released, and months later upon completion of the investigation either recommend charges and arrest or they don't recommend charges.
We have had people with immunity in Canada cause deaths in the past, none have ever faced any consequences because of it, and most where whisked out of Canada very quickly.
We have had people with immunity in Canada cause deaths in the past, none have ever faced any consequences because of it, and most where whisked out of Canada very quickly.
I should watch what I say, by arrested I meant taken to the cop shop. Apparently she spoke with police at the scene and was given a breathalyser test. I don't know UK police procedure in such cases, but I'm skeptical that an 'ordinary' person would be allowed to leave the scene when they'd admitted to causing a death by dangerous driving. I'd have thought it'd at least be an appearance before a magistrate and then bailed to appear in court at a later date. But she was allowed to leave and given the courtesy of a home visit.
#74
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Did she actually admit that at the scene though?
I don't think she was ever charged whilst in the UK, and Causing Death by Dangerous Driving seems like overcharging by CPS purely to justify an extradition.
The case is an open and shut example of Causing Death by Careless Driving, which is what I suspect they will drop the charges down to if she ever actually returns to the UK.
I don't think she was ever charged whilst in the UK, and Causing Death by Dangerous Driving seems like overcharging by CPS purely to justify an extradition.
The case is an open and shut example of Causing Death by Careless Driving, which is what I suspect they will drop the charges down to if she ever actually returns to the UK.
#75
Re: US Diplomat's wife kills biker in UK then flees country :(
Causing Death by Dangerous Driving seems like overcharging by CPS purely to justify an extradition.
'A person who causes the death of another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle dangerously on a road or other public place is guilty of an offence.'
Seems to me like an open and shut case. She was on the wrong side of the road. That rises beyond the level of carelessness in my view.