Teen’s family loses fight to view ‘secret papers’

The parents of a teenager whose killer used diplomatic immunity to flee to the United States have been refused access to a ‘‘secret agreement’’ between the American and British governments.

Harry Dunn, 19, died last August after his motorbike collided with a car driven on the wrong side of the road by the wife of a US intelligence officer outside an RAF base in Northamptonshire.

Anne Sacoolas, 42, whose husband Jonathan Sacoolas worked as a technical assistant at the US listening post at RAF Croughton, claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash.

She was able to return to America. Yesterday Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn were denied additional documents relating to the agreement around the listening post at an initial High Court hearing in a legal action against Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, and Nick Adderley, the chief constable of Northamptonshire. The parents claim both men acted unlawfully in allowing Anne Sacoolas to leave.

In December Anne Sacoolas was charged in absentia with causing death by dangerous driving. The US rejected an extradition request in January.

Dunn’s parents say that the Foreign Office ‘‘acted unlawfully by proceeding as if Anne Sacoolas conclusively had immunity and/or advising other state bodies that she did’’. The pair say that this prevented Northamptonshire police ‘‘from reaching an informed view as to the immunity issue’’.

After a preliminary hearing yesterday, conducted by video call, Lord Justice Flaux and Mr Justice Saini rejected the application for the Foreign Office to disclose further evidence before a full hearing.

Lord Justice Flaux said: ‘‘We do not consider that any of the documents sought is necessary for the fair and just determination of the issues in the case.’’

The court also refused an application to rely on expert evidence from Sir Ivor Roberts, ‘‘one of the country’s most distinguished diplomats’’. Lord Justice Flaux said: ‘‘We do not consider any of that evidence to be admissible or relevant to the issues we have to decide.’’

The court directed that a full hearing of Charles and Dunn’s case will be heard in October or November.

Geoffrey Robertson, QC, for Charles and Dunn, had told the court that the Foreign Office ‘‘has through its actions obstructed a criminal investigation, under pressure from the United States’’. He argued that Jonathan Sacoolas had ‘‘only limited’’ immunity from prosecution in relation to ‘‘acts performed in the course of his duties’’, and that his wife had entered the UK with ‘‘none at all since she would perform no duties relating to the mission’’.

Robertson said that the case ‘‘turns on the interpretation of a secret agreement made in 1995 and updated in 2001 between the US and UK as a result of a US request to add up to 200 technical officers as diplomatic agents at RAF Croughton’’.

Sir James Eadie, QC, for the Foreign Office, said that Raab ‘‘has acted lawfully at all times’’.

In a statement before the hearing, the family said: ‘‘We couldn’t believe when Anne Sacoolas was allowed to leave the UK . . . the American government are responsible for that. However, it is clear to us that things went badly wrong in London too and that the UK government allowed her to leave unlawfully.’’ – The Times