re: #122 Hecuba’s daughter

The diplomat’s wife was in the wrong but she did not deliberately try to harm the teenager; it was an accident due to incompetence, rather than malice. Legally, that may not matter but it was a different situation.

The police wanted to question her about the accident as there may have been a case to be made for a criminal charge of causing death through careless driving which covers incompetence behind the wheel. This can’t be done as the US won’t return her to the UK for this regardless of the questionable claims of diplomatic immunity — it’s normal for any country’s citizens covered by DI to be listed and registered with the authorities and the lady was not on any such list of people. Being family of DI individuals does provide certain rights but diplomatic immunity per se is not automatically extended to them.

A friend of mine is the son of a British diplomat who was seconded to the Embassy in Washington DC when he was a lot younger. He had a special visa in his passport which allowed him long-term resident status and made it easier to get through C&I when he flew to the States but that’s all. If he had committed criminal acts while in the US he was not exempt from investigation and possible criminal charges.