UK police probing teenage biker's death will travel to USA to quiz the suspect

China Plus Published: 2019-10-22 12:16:01
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British police investigating the death of teenage biker Harry Dunn will travel to the US to interview Anne Sacoolas, an American diplomat's wife who is accused of killing the 19-year-old, according to a Daily Mail report.

<br>Radd Seiger, a spokesperson for the Dunn family, joins Charlotte Charles, center left, and Tim Dunn, center right, parents of Harry Dunn, who died after his motorbike was involved in an August 2019 accident in Britain with Anne Sacoolas, wife of an American diplomat, speaks at a news conference joined by Harry Dunn's step parents Bruce Charles and Tracey Dunn Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in New York. The family is seeking answers after Sacoolas returned to the United States after being granted diplomatic immunity following the crash.[Photo: AP]


Radd Seiger, a spokesperson for the Dunn family, joins Charlotte Charles, center left, and Tim Dunn, center right, parents of Harry Dunn, who died after his motorbike was involved in an August 2019 accident in Britain with Anne Sacoolas, wife of an American diplomat, speaks at a news conference joined by Harry Dunn's step parents Bruce Charles and Tracey Dunn Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in New York. The family is seeking answers after Sacoolas returned to the United States after being granted diplomatic immunity following the crash.[Photo: AP]

Harry Dunn died after a car driven down the wrong side of the road by Anne Sacoolas is alleged to have collided with his motorbike near RAF Croughton, an air force base in Northamptonshire used by the US military.

Sacoolas fled the UK shortly after Harry's death and American authorities have refused to send her back to the UK.

Now, Harry's family have been told that UK police officers will travel to interview Sacoolas.

A source told Sky News: 'The chief constable will speak to the press tomorrow (Tuesday) and confirm that officers will visit the US and conduct an interview with the suspect.'

It is not known whether a meeting between Sacoolas and police officers has been arranged.

The latest development comes as the family of Harry Dunn slammed foreign secretary Dominic Raab.

They said they are 'as angry as they have been' after the foreign secretary admitted in the House of Commons that the US told Britain Sacoolas was planning to leave the country, but UK police were unable to legally stop her.

In a furious response to Raab's statement, the spokesman for Harry Dunn's family Radd Seiger said: 'The family just has absolutely no confidence in Dominic Raab.

'He said we didn't go to him or his department for help while we were in the United States - that's because he is the last person we would go to for help after the meeting we had with him.

The foreign secretary revealed earlier that Britain is reviewing the rules that allowed Sacoolas to flee after the fatal car crash.

Raab told the House of Commons: 'I have already commissioned a review of the immunity arrangements for U.S. personnel and their families at Croughton.

'As this case has demonstrated, I do not believe the current arrangements are right and the review will look at how we can make sure that the arrangements at Croughton cannot be used in this way again.'

He added that the government will 'continue to fight for justice' for the Dunn family.

Raab also claimed there are 'no barriers to justice being done' in the case.

The UK Government believes diplomatic immunity 'clearly ended' for Sacoolas when she left the country, the foreign secretary said.

He added it would be for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police to decide what steps to take, telling MPs he is 'not aware of any obstacle' under the UK/US Extradition Treaty.

Raab's remarks followed questions from Labour and others, including if he had been advised whether the CPS could commence extradition proceedings to return Mrs Sacoolas to the UK.

It comes after Harry Dunn's parents admitted their hopes of meeting the woman who is said to have killed their son while driving on the wrong side of the road have 'become quite slim', following a meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House.

Tim Dunn and Charlotte Charles revealed their Oval Office meeting with Trump failed when National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien made clear Anne Sacoolas would under no circumstances be returning to the UK.

The distraught parents said: 'O'Brien was there next to Trump and he said 'she is never coming back to the UK,'' before describing him as 'quite aggressive.'

The pair then emotionally explained how they refused to meet Mrs Sacoolas, who was in another room waiting for a reconciliation, because they promised their late son that they would get justice for him on UK soil.

Ms Charles said: 'Our immediate reaction was no straight away. We made a promise to Harry and we said we would get justice on UK soil because the evidence was already there.

'If we meet her we need therapists around us, we don't want to be thrown together.'

'We hoped that she would do the right thing as a human and face the justice system. We would still work with her but to be honest our hopes of meeting have become quite slim.'

The pair cast doubt on the efforts of the Foreign Secretary, telling viewers they were 'sceptical' after Dominic Raab admitted to them he delayed informing them that Mrs Sacoolas had left the country.

Ms Charles then made an emotional plea to Mrs Sacoolas, who ploughed into 19-year-old Harry Dunn while driving on the wrong side of the road near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.

She said: 'Come back to the UK. We're not horrible people.

'We know she must be suffering - her two children were in the car - they must be suffering too. We want her to come back.'

Previously, Harry's family called for prosecutors to 'get on with it' after learning vital evidence has been passed on to them.

Ms Charles and Mr Dunn were told that police have handed their file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The evidence includes CCTV footage of US citizen Mrs Sacoolas, 42, driving on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton – a spy hub in Northamptonshire – almost eight weeks ago before crashing head-on into the 19-year-old motorcyclist.

She used her husband's status as a US intelligence officer to claim diplomatic immunity before leaving Britain.

But her immunity from prosecution has expired because he is no longer in his post, according to the Foreign Office.

The CPS will decide whether the evidence is strong enough for charges to be brought. Then an extradition request could be made to the US for her arrest.

Labour has called for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the Government's handling of the case after the Foreign Office admitted hiding information from the teenager's family.

Police were told Mrs Sacoolas had left Britain on September 16 after being granted diplomatic immunity.

Harry's parents claim they were not informed until ten days later.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said: 'It now looks increasingly clear that the Foreign Secretary and his officials have something to hide in terms of how they responded to this dreadful tragedy.

'The rights, justice and answers that are due to Harry Dunn's grieving family can no longer be denied.'

Meanwhile donations to Harry's campaign more than doubled during his family's visit to the US.

Harry's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn spent all of last week in the US, participating in a number of high profile media interviews and also had a controversial meeting with Donald Trump.

(Story includes material sourced from Daily Mail.)

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