Crash victim’s family to meet Foreign Secretary over diplomatic immunity row
A family caught up in a row over diplomatic immunity while fighting for justice for their son who died in a crash are to meet Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
Harry Dunn, 19 was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car on August 27.
The car was thought to have been driving on the wrong side of the road after leaving RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire – a military base used by the US Air Force.
The suspect in the case, 42-year-old Anne Sacoolas, who is reportedly married to a US intelligence official, was granted diplomatic immunity after the crash, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mr Raab and Northamptonshire Police have asked the US to consider waiving it.
It has since emerged that Mrs Sacoolas was previously handed a fine for “failure to pay full time and attention” while driving in the state of Virginia in 2006.
Mr Raab is due to meet Harry’s mother, Charlotte Charles, and father, Tim Dunn, on Wednesday afternoon after having talks with US Ambassador Woody Johnson on Tuesday.
Prior to meeting the US Ambassador, Mr Raab raised the case in a telephone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
After Tuesday’s meeting, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “The Foreign Secretary met the US Ambassador today and urged the US to reconsider its position and do the right thing by Harry Dunn’s family.”
On Monday, the Prime Minister also urged the US to reconsider its decision to give immunity to the diplomat’s wife, saying: “I do not think it can be right to use the process of diplomatic immunity for this type of purpose.”
Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable Nick Adderley said US authorities had been appealed to in “the strongest terms” to apply a waiver and “allow the justice process to take place” after Mrs Sacoolas left the UK despite telling officers she did not plan to do so.
Speaking to Sky News about the meeting with the Foreign Secretary, Ms Charles said: “We’ve been offered the chance to now meet Dominic Raab and we’ve got that meeting this afternoon. We’re very much hoping for some positivity.
“I hope he can look at us as human beings that just need our UK Government on our side.
“If we get that positivity and we get that breakthrough that we need, then we can actually start looking after ourselves and our other boy – his twin.
“Until we get the positivity and the answers we need, we are still in the mode of just keeping going with that fire in our belly that still keeps telling us that something is not right.”
Mr Dunn said: “Hopefully he’s going to tell us the news we want to hear – that they’ve got the waiver for the immunity and she is going to be coming back for justice for Harry.”
A crowdfunding page set up for Harry’s family to begin their “campaign to search for justice” and to help Harry’s twin brother, Niall, reached its £10,000 target on Tuesday and has since passed £15,000.
