Britain is set to pursue a virtual trial over the death of Harry Dunn who was killed when a car crashed into his motorbike outside a US military base in Northamptonshire.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that while the US has blocked the extradition of US diplomat’s wife Anne Sacoolas to face charges stemming from the collision, the path is now clear for the UK to push for a form of “virtual trial or process” to provide accountability and justice for Mr Dunn’s family.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said US President Joe Biden was “actively engaged” and “extremely sympathetic” about the case after face-to-face meeting at the G7 summit in Cornwall this week.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab waiting to greet counterparts during the G7 foreign and development ministers meeting.
Hannah McKay
Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The US has not agreed to the extradition, but the path is clear for the legal authorities in the UK to approach Anne Sacoolas’s lawyers – without any problem from the US government – to see whether some kind of virtual trial or process could allow some accountability and some solace and some justice for the Dunn family.
“I would like to see some accountability. I think the family deserve no less.”
Mr Dunn died aged 19 in August 2019 when a car crashed into his motorbike outside RAF Croughton, a base used by US personnel.
The aftermath sparked an international controversy when Sacoolas, who worked at the base for the US State Department, had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf – allowing her to leave the UK nine days after the crash.
The entrance to RAF Croughton, in Northamptonshire, near where Harry Dunn, 19, died in 2019.
Steve Parsons
She has since been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
Speaking after the meeting of Mr Biden and the Prime Minister, Mr Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles told the PA news agency: “We are incredibly grateful that Harry’s case is being taken so seriously as to be raised on the eve of the G7 meeting with so many worldwide crises going on.
“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.
Ms Charles added: “We are all suffering intensely as a family and really need a resolution as soon as possible and now await to hear from the CPS as to what steps they plan to take next.
“We have been working incredibly hard behind the scenes having dialogue with as many people on both sides of the Atlantic as possible and believe that these efforts will help us in our search for justice.
“It is almost two years since we lost Harry in August 2019 and it would be lovely to think that all parties can now come together to help bring this living nightmare to an end so that we can try to rebuild our shattered lives.”
We are all suffering intensely as a family and really need a solution as soon as possible
After discussing the matter with Mr Biden, Mr Johnson told the BBC: “As you know, he has his own personal reasons for feeling very deeply about the issue.
“And he was extremely sympathetic, but this is not something that either government can control very easily because there are legal processes that are still going on.”
The Dunn family has challenged the diplomatic immunity asserted on Sacoolas’s behalf, which will be heard in the Court of Appeal next year.
Ms Charles and Mr Dunn’s father Tim Dunn have also brought a civil claim against Sacoolas and her husband in the US state of Virginia.
