FO urged to drop ‘absurd’ defence in Harry Dunn case

LAWYERS ACTING on behalf of Harry Dunn’s family have invited the Foreign Office to drop their “absurd” defence to the legal claim disputing diplomatic immunity granted to the teenager’s alleged killer.

It is understood the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is set to claim it did not advise police that Anne Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity. The Dunn family have said they were left with “no choice” but to bring Northamptonshire Police into the legal claim – which the force’s chief constable confirmed on Tuesday.

Mr Dunn died after his motorcycle crashed into a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year.

Mrs Sacoolas, 42, the wife of a US intelligence official, claimed diplomatic immunity after the collision and was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy.

The family have now criticised the Foreign Office – saying its defence to the claim “flies in the face of reality”.

In documents, the FCO has claimed that “the Secretary of State did not purport to advise the police as to the legal position in relation to Mrs Sacoolas’ immunity”.

In its challenge of the judicial review launched by the Dunn family, the FCO has also said: “It was and is for the police, as the independent criminal investigator, to make their own decisions on matters affecting their investigation.”

It is understood the Foreign Office alleges that any statement provided to the Northamptonshire force would have been an “informal expression of opinion”. The claim against the FCO issued on behalf of Mr Dunn’s parents – Tim Dunn and Charlotte Charles – alleged the granting of diplomatic immunity to Mrs Sacoolas was “wrong in law”.

They requested the Foreign Office withdraw advice provided to Northamptonshire Police surrounding the granting of diplomatic immunity to the suspect.

The family have said they are concerned Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was “pressured by the United States to interpret the law in a way which allowed her to escape justice”, a claim the FCO said was “entirely without foundation”.

The Home Office submitted an extradition request for Mrs Sacoolas on Friday after she was charged with causing the 19-yearold’s death by dangerous driving.