US suspect in crash death ‘doesn’t have immunity’

THE family of 19-year-old Harry Dunn have said the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has written to them to say a US suspect in his death does not have diplomatic immunity.

The teenager died when his motorbike was in a collision with a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27. The suspect, Anne Sacoolas (42), who is reportedly married to a US intelligence official, was granted diplomatic immunity following the crash.

But the Dunn family’s spokesman Radd Seiger said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has written to them about Mrs Sacoolas, saying: “The US have now informed us that they too consider that immunity is no longer pertinent.”

The letter said: “We have pressed strongly for a waiver of immunity, so that justice can be done... Whilst the US government has steadfastly declined to give that waiver, that is not the end of the matter. We have looked at this very carefully... the UK Government’s position is that immunity, and therefore any question of waiver, is no longer relevant in Mrs Sacoolas’ case, because she has returned home.”

Mr Raab added that the matter was now “in the hands” of Northamptonshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The FCO has declined to comment on the letter.

Meanwhile, Mrs Sacoolas’s legal representative Amy Jeffress, from law firm Arnold and Porter, said: “Anne is devastated by this tragic accident. No loss compares to the death of a child and Anne extends her deepest sympathy to Harry Dunn’s family.”

Mr Seiger said in a statement he had spoken with Ms Jeffress and the pair had agreed “to get together asap... to discuss how we are going to achieve a solution”.

He added that he was studying the FCO letter “with legal and political experts” to “fully understand where that leaves us”. He added: “That all said, clearly a positive step forward but we won’t rest until we get justice for Harry.”

Mr Dunn’s parents Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn said they would be flying to America to “put pressure on the US administration to do the right thing”.

Earlier, Mrs Sacoolas’s lawyer said: “Anne would like to meet with Mr Dunn’s parents so that she can express her deepest sympathies and apologies for this tragic accident. We have been in contact with the family’s attorneys and look forward to hearing from them.”