Harry crash suspect bids to have US civil claim thrown out
LAWYERS acting on behalf of the alleged killer of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn have applied to dismiss a civil claim for damages against her in the US.
Anne Sacoolas’s representatives had previously admitted the 43- year- old was driving on the wrong side of the road for around 20 seconds before a crash which killed the teenager.
It is understood the Prime Minister has offered to file an“amicus brief” in the civil proceedings – meaning he would offer the court in the Eastern District of Virginia additional information it may wish to consider.
In a letter sent to the family’s constituency MP Andrea Leadsom, Boris Johnson said the Government would also “fund their accommodation for the family to attend court hearings”.
PA understands the Dunn family’s lawyers have until December 14 to respond to Sacoolas’s lawyers’ application.
Their spokesman, Radd Seiger, described the motion to dismiss the civil claim as “pouring salt in the wounds”, but said the parents “take comfort” from the Prime Minister’s involvement in the case.
Mr Dunn, 19, was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car outside US military base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27, last year.
Diplomatic immunity was asserted by the US on behalf of Sacoolas following the collision and she was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy.
She was charged with causing death by dangerous driving in December last year but an extradition request was rejected by the US State Department a month later.
In his letter to Mrs Leadsom, the Prime Minister said he continued to take a “close interest” in the case.
“I would like to begin by reiterating my deep condolences to Harry’s family,” he wrote.
“They have suffered tremendous pain, which I know has been compounded by the US refusal to extradite Anne Sacoolas.
“I have raised this case repeatedly with President Trump, and the Foreign Secretary also discussed this with Secretary of State Pompeo during his recent visit to the US.”