Police missed two chances to arrest Dunn suspect
THE police chief in charge of investigating the death of Harry Dunn says he would not have done anything differently, despite his officers missing two opportunities to arrest a woman driver who admitted hitting the teenaged motorcyclist before fleeing the UK.
Police interviewed and breathalysed Anne Sacoolas, the wife of an American diplomat, at the scene of the crash on Aug 27, but did not arrest her.
“It is a judgment call as to whether you want to arrest at the scene or not,” said Nick Adderley, chief constable of Northamptonshire Police. “I’m not going to criticise the officers because they took the decision not to arrest her.” He added: “I think, having looked at it, that was the right decision to take in any case.”
Mr Adderley noted that officers also spoke to her at her home a day later.
Now, police are preparing to fly out to the US to interview Mrs Sacoolas under caution, and will send a full file to the Crown Prosecution Service for it to decide whether to charge her.
If charged with causing death by dangerous driving – as she had admitted driving on the wrong side of the road – an extradition request could be made.
Mr Adderley said that the police applied for diplomatic immunity to be waived, but, on Sept 16, that was declined and the police were told by the Foreign Office that the suspect had left the country.
Harry’s family were not told about this until a week later.
In response to the police chief’s assertions, Radd Seiger, the family’s spokesman, said: “The family have lost all faith and confidence in both the police and the Foreign Office.
“It is important in all this that the authorities do not forget that there is a family suffering behind this who are desperately searching for answers, the truth and justice.”
The tragic case of Harry Dunn, the 19-year-old motorcyclist killed in a collision with a car driven by the wife of an American diplomat, has raised many unsettling questions. Yet there is a distinct sense of various agencies seeking to avoid blame for the way the matter has been handled.
On Monday in the Commons, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, explained why the driver Anne Sacoolas was able to leave the UK while the crash was being investigated. He confirmed that officials asked the police to delay telling Harry’s parents that she had gone for “one or two days”. In the event, they were not told until 11 days had elapsed, a troubling hiatus that Mr Raab said was for the police to justify. For his part, Nick Adderley, chief constable of Northamptonshire, where the crash occurred, defended his officers. The response was complicated by the diplomatic immunity claimed by Mrs Sacoolas, whose husband was an intelligence officer based at RAF Croughton.
The upshot is that Mr and Mrs Dunn have been left not only grief-stricken but lacking confidence in the way the Government and the police have dealt with their loss. The bizarre goings on in Washington, when they declined Donald Trump’s invitation to meet Mrs Sacoolas in the Oval Office, have hardly helped.
Since everyone involved deeply sympathises with the Dunns, unedifying attempts to pass the buck should be resisted. Mr Raab has announced a review of immunity arrangements and the police have travelled to America to interview Mrs Sacoolas, whose immunity ended on her return. If she has a case to answer, the UK must seek her extradition. We trust the US government will respond positively.