Harry Dunn’s family in bid to prosecute Raab
They say he broke law by letting killer go
THE family of the teenage boy killed in a car crash with an American diplomat’s wife are bringing a private criminal prosecution against the Foreign Secretary.
Harry Dunn’s family claim Dominic Raab broke the law in his dealings with their son’s case after Anne Sacoolas returned to the US following the crash.
Mrs Sacoolas, 43, an alleged ex-CIA spy, claimed diplomatic immunity and flew home before she could be charged following the head-on collision with 19-year-old Harry last August.
She had pulled out on to the wrong side of the road after leaving a US intelligence base at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire when she hit Harry’s motorbike.
Mrs Sacoolas, who admitted driving on the wrong side of the road to police, has since been made the subject of an Interpol Red Notice which are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
Harry’s devastated family claim that the Foreign Office allowed Mrs Sacoolas to go back to the US. His father Tim Dunn told Sky News: ‘We need this for everybody to know how the decisions were made and why the procedures and guidelines weren’t followed and for me to get some justice and a bit of peace.’
Following an investigation, prosecutors said Mrs Sacoolas, whose husband Jonathan was a US intelligence officer at the base, should be charged with causing death by dangerous driving. But it was revealed a Foreign Office mandarin had said there was ‘not much mileage’ in keeping Mrs Sacoolas in the UK in a text sent weeks after the teenager was killed.
The text to a US official on September 14 read: ‘I think that now the decision has been taken not to waive [immunity] there’s not much mileage in us asking you to keep the family here. It’s obviously not us approving of their departure but I think you should feel able to put them on the next flight out.’
Harry’s family claim Mrs Sacoolas left for Virginia the next day.
‘There’s a very clear rule that it’s for the police to establish who has immunity,’ the family’s spokesman Radd Seiger said. ‘That rule was broken and we allege it constitutes a serious instance of misconduct in a public office. That effectively stopped their investigation and we say that amounts to perverting the course of justice – two potentially serious crimes.’
Harry’s parents, from Northamptonshire, were in tears after meeting Mr Raab in October to push for the return of Mrs Sacoolas. They spoke of their anger with the Foreign Secretary and branded the meeting ‘a publicity stunt’.
The Foreign Office said: ‘We have the deepest sympathy for Harry’s family. The case remains of the highest priority for the Foreign Secretary, who continues to raise the case with the US government. The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have been clear... the refusal to extradite Mrs Sacoolas amounts to a denial of justice and she should return to the UK.’
‘Justice... and a bit of peace’