Oafish and appalling
Parents of teenager killed in crash with US diplomat’s wife hit out at Trump after ‘rambling mess’ of a Press conference
THE family of a teenager killed in a crash with a US diplomat’s wife said Donald Trump was ‘insensitive, clumsy and oafish’ yesterday after he appeared to defend the woman for driving on the wrong side of the road.
Harry Dunn’s parents said they were hurt by the President’s comments about Anne Sacoolas, 42, who claimed diplomatic immunity and fled the UK after the crash.
At the same Press conference, Mr Trump accidentally flashed a briefing note which said Mrs Sacoolas will not return to the UK, further dashing the family’s hopes of getting justice.
The document, which was written by America’s National Security Council, suggests it has already decided her immunity will never be waived – despite pleas for it to reconsider from both Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
The card read: ‘Note, as Secretary
‘He just blurts things out in the moment’
(Mike) Pompeo told Foreign Secretary Raab, that the spouse of the US government employee will not return to the United Kingdom.’
Mr Trump pledged to arrange a meeting between 19-year-old Harry’s family and Mrs Sacoolas for ‘some healing’ following the ‘terrible accident’. He said he ‘hates this case’ and admitted it was ‘a very, very complex issue because we are talking about diplomatic immunity’.
But in comments which caused Harry’s family ‘pain’, he said: ‘The woman was driving on the wrong side of the road, and that can happen.
‘You know, those are the opposite roads, that happens. I won’t say it ever happeHnaerdrtyo’ smem, boutthiet rd, idC.’ harlotte Charles, said: ‘I’m just disgusted. I don’t see the point in Boris Johnson talking to President Trump, or President Trump even taking a call from Boris Johnson.
‘If he’d already made his decision that if it were to be asked and if it were to be raised, the answer was already going to be no.’
Radd Seiger, a spokesman for Harry’s family, said the teenager’s parents went into ‘meltdown’ when they saw Mr Trump’s comments. ‘We were horrified. If you were advising the President how not to deal with a diplomatic incident, this would be it. This was a case study as how not to respond to a crisis.
‘This was the President of the free world gesticulating about an accident in a country where we are supposed to be allies and he is making a complete fool of himself whilst appearing to justify what Anne Sacoolas did.
‘How much more do Harry’s family have to suffer? He just blurts things out in the moment. It was appalling, it was inflammatory, it was a rambling mess and it’s caused a lot more upset.’
Mr Seiger said the family would be flying to the US ‘imminently’ to ensure Mr Trump did not think they would ‘just go away’. He added that the family’s legal team did not believe spies were entitled to immunity.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also weighed into the row, saying Mr Trump’s comments were ‘the most crass, insensitive comment anyone could ever make’. He said Labour would look to ‘mount legal action in the US’ against the decision to grant diplomatic immunity.
Harry suffered horrific injuries in the crash outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August. He died later in hospital.
Mrs Sacoolas had pulled out of the base, a US spy hub, on the wrong side of the road and collided with the teenager’s motorbike on the brow of a hill. She initially co- operated with officers from Northamptonshire Police, but later fled the country. Her husband, Jonathan, is believed to work in intelligence at the base. Last night it emerged that councils would put up road signs near the base reminding people which side of the road to drive on.
Asked what she would say to Mr Trump, Mrs Charles, 42, said: ‘I would obviously urge him to still put her on the plane to come back, face our justice system here, face us, talk to us.’
A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: ‘When the investigation is concluded, a full file of evidence will be provided to the CPS.’