Why an anti-slavery patrol might sink rather than seize

Why would HMS Hecate sink a slave-trading brigantine instead of taking it as a prize?

A captured ship created prize-court and diplomatic complications, while a vessel sunk during enforcement could be politically easier to resolve.

Hecate sank an American brigantine engaged in the slave trade instead of taking her as a prize. A captured vessel would enter prize court, where ownership, legality, and political responsibility had to be argued. A ship lost during the interception could be politically easier to handle because there was no surviving prize to adjudicate. The answer exposes how anti-slavery enforcement operated within legal and diplomatic constraints as well as naval tactics.