‘Path is clear’ for virtual trial of Harry Dunn suspect, says Raab

BRITAIN is pushing for a virtual trial of the American diplomat’s wife accused of killing teenager Harry Dunn.

Washington has blocked the extradition of Ann Sacoolas to face charges over the car crash that killed 19-year-old motorcyclist outside a US military base in Northamptonshire in 2019.

However, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday that the path is now clear for the UK to push for a form of “virtual trial or process” He weighed in after Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said US President Joe Biden was “actively engaged” and “extremely sympathetic” about the case, after they discussed it at a face-to-face meeting at the G7 summit in Cornwall.

Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The path is clear for the legal authorities in the UK to approach Anne Sacoolas’s lawyers to see whether some kind of virtual trial or process could allow some justice for the Dunn family.” He added: “I would like to see some accountability. I think the family deserve no less.”

Mr Dunn died in August 2019 when a car crashed into his motorbike outside RAF Croughton, a base used by US personnel in Northamptonshire. A diplomatic row erupted in the aftermath, when US authorities refused a request for the extradition of Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence officer, after asserting diplomatic immunity on her behalf.

She returned to her home country and was later charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Speaking after the bilateral talks between the Prime Minister and Mr Biden, Mr Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles said: “We very much hope that President Biden takes a different view to the previous administration, given his deeply personal connection to the case, having suffered loss in similar circumstances.”

Mr Biden’s first wife and daughter were killed in a road crash in 1972, while his sons Beau and Hunter survived.