The US airman jurisdiction dispute has come under renewed scrutiny after it emerged that a US serviceman accused of indecently exposing himself to a 16-year-old girl and four other women in Cambridgeshire was able to avoid trial in a British court. Instead, the case was transferred to US military authorities, who handled it through a court martial at RAF Lakenheath.
The case, revealed by the Guardian as part of its “Base Justice” series, highlights growing concern over how crimes committed by US military personnel on UK soil are prosecuted when they occur off base and while off duty.
How The Case Was Handed To US Authorities
Cambridgeshire police began investigating Hannes Marschalek in October 2022 after receiving complaints from women aged between 16 and 24. The allegations related to incidents in Littleport, a town about 25 minutes from RAF Lakenheath, where Marschalek was stationed.
According to statements gathered by police, one woman alleged she saw him “standing at or near the doorway with the door completely open”, with his shorts pulled down and “his right hand was on his penis” while holding a mobile phone. Another said she saw him “posing” completely naked at the door. One complainant later told officers she no longer felt safe in her home town.
Three weeks after arresting Marschalek, Cambridgeshire police received an official request from the US military to take over the investigation. On 31 October 2022, the force agreed to the transfer.
A Cambridgeshire police spokesperson said: “During the course of the investigation an official request was received from the relevant authorities within the US military asking us to consider transferring the investigation to them for onward progression.” The force added that “all victims were consulted with prior to the decision” and that no one had complained at the time.
RAF Lakenheath Court Martial And Plea Deal
The transfer allowed the US military to bring Marschalek, 37, before a court martial in 2023. Court papers showed that in July 2022, Marschalek had texted friends: “I definitely just flashed a couple ladies walking from the train. LOL.” In a later message he wrote: “I took all my clothes off when I walked in. I went to go open a window and I was standing right in front of it when they walked by.”
Prosecutors argued the texts showed he was “repeatedly exposing his genitalia to unexpected women, and then bragging about it, and then laughing about it.” Marschalek told investigators: “I understand and believe my behaviour, specifically opening the door to be seen naked, which sexually excited me, could have been perceived by others as vulgar, obscene and repugnant.”
He ultimately admitted standing at his door naked on two occasions between August and October 2022. A charge alleging masturbation was removed as part of a plea bargain. His defense was that he had “removed my clothes after working out” and opened the doors “to get a cross-breeze going” because his house had no air conditioning.
The military judge sentenced him to two months in a correctional facility at Lakenheath and dismissed him from the air force. In an English court, the maximum penalty for indecent exposure is two years in jail. In April 2026, a US military appeal court quashed the conviction on a technicality, ruling he had been charged under the wrong offence. Prosecutors are now seeking to challenge that ruling.
Base Justice Investigation Highlights Wider Pattern
The Marschalek case is not isolated. It echoes the case of Capt Jacob Wulfson, another US airman based at RAF Lakenheath, who was tried by a US military tribunal in 2023 after allegedly strangling a British woman in Cambridge. The victim, academic Sarah Steele, described her experience as “degrading.”
Both cases have prompted questions about an agreement that requires UK police to give “sympathetic” consideration to US requests to take jurisdiction over off-base crimes by off-duty personnel. While UK forces can refuse, the Base Justice investigation suggests some are ceding control even in sexual offence cases.
The issue has reached Westminster. A spokesperson for the prime minister called it “deeply distressing” that Wulfson avoided an English trial. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told parliament he wanted the US government to provide a full account.
What The Police And US Air Force Say
Cambridgeshire police said they had notified Marschalek’s employers upon arrest and continued taking statements while he was on bail. A US Air Force spokesperson said it had “negotiated jurisdiction over this case with the local police using all available facts at the time.”
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Marschalek has since returned to the US, where he remains on the sex offender registry due to his conduct in the UK. He has been approached for comment.
The outcome has fueled debate over whether British victims are being denied access to UK courts for crimes committed in their communities. Legal experts argue that under normal jurisdictional rules, the UK should have primary authority when offences occur on British soil.
For now, the US airman jurisdiction dispute remains unresolved, with campaigners and MPs calling for clearer rules to ensure that serious allegations are tried where they happened.
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