Raab says US has denied Dunn family justice

DOMINIC RAAB said the United States’ decision not to extradite Anne Sacoolas was a “denial of justice” and told the American ambassador that Britain would have “acted differently”.

Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary appeared to suggest he would have agreed to extradite Mrs Sacoolas if he had been in the same position as Mike Pompeo, his opposite number.

Mr Raab said the rejection of the extradition request “amounts to a denial of justice” and the Foreign Office believed she should return to the UK.

The parents of Harry Dunn, 19, who was killed in a road accident in August outside RAF Croughton in Northants, welcomed Foreign Office support, but said its decision to oppose the family’s request for a judicial review of the case amounts to a “huge arm around the US government’s position”.

The Government had requested the extradition of Ms Sacoolas, 42, the wife of a US intelligence officer who is wanted for questioning after she was charged with causing death by dangerous driving then left the UK using diplomatic immunity.

Lawyers for the Dunn family said it was the first time in the 100-year history of the extradition treaty that the US had refused such a request. The Foreign Office maintains Ms Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity, which is disputed by the family, but Mr Raab said he would look to “resolve the issue” surrounding any immunity given to staff at the base.

Reacting to the refusal, Mr Raab said: “I called the US ambassador earlier to express the Government’s disappointment...we feel this amounts to a denial of justice, and we believe that Anne Sacoolas should return to the UK. We are now urgently considering our options.

“I also explained that the UK would have acted differently if this had been a UK diplomat serving in the US.”