They protect their own. They do it instinctively and aggressively.
They do it even when the facts are clear and the harm is undeniable. They do it even when the victim is a child.
In those early days after Harry died, we were completely overwhelmed.
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We were grieving and we were suddenly up against a foreign government that behaved as if our son's life mattered less than the convenience of one of their citizens.
Our neighbour and recently retired lawyer, Radd Seiger, an American who has lived in the UK since his childhood, came to our aid.
The British police and the British government told us that they were powerless and that there was nothing they could do.
We proved them completely wrong and together we challenged the narrative that the Americans always try to impose: that they have primacy under the laws between the countries and that British police and British families should simply accept it.
Since Harry died, other families have also had British justice denied. Families who have been told that the Americans will take over the investigation.
Families who have been left confused and frightened because their local police force did not understand the law and did not know how to push back.
In every one of these cases, the pattern was the same. The Americans moved fast to protect their own.
British police forces hesitated or deferred.
In Sarah Steele's case, the same old dynamics played out again. A woman was attacked on UK soil and the system that should have protected her did not.
Every police force in this country needs to be educated about these cases.
They need to understand that the Americans do not automatically have primacy, and that they have a duty to stand up for British victims.
I lost my son. Nothing will ever make that right.
But if speaking out helps even one family avoid the suffering we went through, then I will keep speaking.
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When an American serving in the UK harms a British citizen, the British system must protect the British victim.
