Death smash US airwoman loses protest at trial in UK
AN AMERICAN servicewoman accused of killing a motorcyclist by careless driving can be tried in Britain, a judge has ruled.
Mikayla Hayes, 24, claimed she should be handed over to the US authorities as she was wearing US Air Force PT gear at the time of the crash, meaning she was “on duty”.
Father-of-one Matthew Day, 33, died after his motorbike collided with Hayes’s Honda Accord in Southery, Norfolk, on August 26.
Mandatory
Hayes, who was on her way home after a shift at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, denied causing death by careless driving at Westminster Magistrates Court.
Yesterday, deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram ruled that she should stand trial before a British jury.
He said: “I find that PTG is not uniform…even the fact she was wearing PTG is not indicative of her being on duty at the time, as uniform is not mandatory on base and can be worn off base.
“It cannot be an indication that someone is on duty as a serviceman.”
Following the ruling, Hayes elected to be tried before a crown court jury rather than have the case dealt with by a district judge at a magistrates court. She will next be at Norwich Crown Court on December 21.