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THE WOMAN AT the centre of a diplomatic row following the death in the UK of 19-year-old Harry Dunn has said she’s “devastated” by what happened.
Dunn died when his motorbike crashed into a car outside an RAF base in Northamptonshire on 27 August.
The driver of the car, 42-year-old Anne Sacoolas – who is married to a US official – was granted diplomatic immunity following the crash.
However, the UK government has now said that this does not apply.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has written to Dunn’s family about Sacoolas and, according to the BBC and Sky News, has said: “The US have now informed us that they too consider that immunity is no longer pertinent.”
“We have pressed strongly for a waiver of immunity, so that justice can be done … Whilst the US government has steadfastly declined to give that waiver, that is not the end of the matter,” BBC News quoted Raab’s letter saying.
We have looked at this very carefully … the UK government’s position is that immunity, and therefore any question of waiver, is no longer relevant in Mrs Sacoolas’ case, because she has returned home.
A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) told the PA news agency that the office “would not be commenting further on the content of the letter”.
Meanwhile, Sacoolas’s legal representative Amy Jeffress, from the law firm Arnold and Porter, said: “Anne is devastated by this tragic accident.
No loss compares to the death of a child and Anne extends her deepest sympathy to Harry Dunn’s family.
The family’s spokesman, Radd Seiger, said in a statement that he had spoken with Jeffress and the pair had agreed “to get together asap … to discuss how we are going to achieve a solution”.
Seiger added that he was studying the FCO letter “with legal and political experts” to “fully understand where that leaves us”.
He added:
That all said, clearly a positive step forward but we won’t rest until we get #Justice4Harry.
Read: Explainer: How does diplomatic immunity work? >
It comes as Dunn’s parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, said they would be flying to the US to “put pressure on the US administration to do the right thing”.
Earlier, Sacoolas’ lawyer said: “Anne would like to meet with Mr Dunn’s parents so that she can express her deepest sympathies and apologies for this tragic accident.
We have been in contact with the family’s attorneys and look forward to hearing from them.
The lawyer said her client spoke with “authorities” at the scene of the crash and met Northampton police at her home the following day.
“She will continue to cooperate with the investigation,” the lawyer said.
‘Ruthless’
On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the US was “absolutely ruthless” in its safeguarding of Sacoolas following the decision to grant her diplomatic immunity.
Boris Johnson said although President Donald Trump was sympathetic towards Mr Dunn’s family’s views on the use of diplomatic immunity, the US is “very reluctant” to allow citizens to be tried abroad.
Speaking of taking their campaign to the US, Mr Dunn’s family said in a statement that they “continue to live in a nightmare” and have so far been unable to grieve after his death.
Mr Dunn’s family are due to fly to the US on Sunday, ITV News reported.
A statement released on behalf of the family said:
“As if losing Harry was not enough, they now find themselves having to expend enormous time and energy, which they can ill afford, generating sufficient publicity to garner public support to persuade the US government to help achieve closure and return the driver Mrs Sacoolas to England to face the consequences of her actions.”
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She’s not ‘devastated’ enough, to actually return and face justice for the death of that young man.
@Bríann O Connor: and to have initially run away from justice.
Wasn’t exactly devastated when she pegged it home. Where’s the common decency, get back to the UK and face your charges to show yourso called remorse
She is so devastated that she fled the uk back to america and refuses to be held accountable for her actions because of immunity that she shouldnt have as she is a murderer, once she is eventually arrested and charged she should be banned from entering the uk in future
@Karl Charlie: I agree she should return for a trial, but she is not a murderer. It was an accident. I doubt she ment to harm anyone that day.. Not defending her actions after that… She should do the decent thing and face the consequences.
@Dave Walsh: she was uneducated enough to be driving on the WRONG side of the road like they do in america and she caused the death of a young man, thats manslaughter and dangerous driving
@Karl Charlie: how did she get from wherever she picked up the car to where the crash happened by driving on the wrong side of the road? Or are you just making sh1111te up?
@Karl Charlie: yup but it’s not murder.
@Al Madzer: it has already been reported that she was on the wrong side of the road.
@Al Madzer: reports would indicate she on the wrong side of the road, but I think it was also just outside of a US base I think, so possibly if they drive on the right within the base and she has just left it she may not have thought about which side she was on
@Al Madzer: regardless, she needs to return/be returned to the UK to answer any charges, as I do not think this is what diplomatic immunity is for
@Dave Walsh: be that the case she fled the scene of the accident and that was her mistake and she should face the music.
@Karl Charlie: have you ever driven in another country were you drive on opposite side of the road it’s easy to forget not making excuses but it’s easy done if your years driving on opposite side
@Al Madzer: you would need to be be deaf dumb and blind not to have known that she was on the wrong side of the road .
@Karl Charlie: there has to be a prosecution and trial before she is guilty of any offense. Don’t prejudge.
I would say she is devastated it was an accident but she ran away and wont face up to her actions and dont know what message this is sending to her son that if u do something wrong you just run and hide behind other people and that will sort it
America the Brave……………
@Peter Bell: …… behind a curtain!
As a motorcyclist I feel saddened for this young man R.I.P and his distraught family and loved ones.
The woman who contributed to his death should not be above the law as much as the accident wasn’t intentional… at the end of the day a young man is gone and a family is shattered due to carelessness and ignorance of not giving the time to look at basic road laws in a different side of the world.
@Wcg Dublin: I’m not defending her actions by any means but i doubt it was a case of her not bothering to learn the rules of the road. I live in germany and drive on the right. When i’m back home, its happened once where i had just jumped into the car and started chugging along on the wrong side for a hundred metres out of complete habit. Thats probably what happened in this situation only the mistake happened as the young man was driving by. By all means, she should face the consequences but i wouldnt go assuming she willingly disregarded the rules of the road.
@Chris Linehan: she fled the scene of an accident and left the country before facing charges. Regardless of intent, there are charges to face.
@Derek: Yup. Agreed. Pretty much said as much in my comment.
@Derek: I don’t think she feels the scene and has been preliminary interviewed by the police.
Not devastated enough to not flee the scene and country. Skum who, for the rest of her life, should be addressed as the kind of person you’d see next Tuesday.
She’s devastated? She should be put herself in the shoes if the parent’s of the child she killed.
Shame on the US, giving her immunity after the fact.
She is not a diplomat and neither is her husband .
You would have wonder who is advising her ? Stay and face the music , slap on the wrist ! Maybe manslaughter charge , banned from driving , or run , exploite a loop hole , be forever tarnished and vilified , crazy decision
Someone should tell her that the English justice system is not as harsh as the American one so she wont find herself sentenced to 400 years in prison or in solitary confinement for an indefinite term. She’s be grand.
If she is devastated let her come back and face up to the charges which are waiting for her .
Get your arse back to the U.K. and face up to what you did.
The suppliers to that base ie bakers milk suppliers should boycott that base until she returns to the uk.
I hope the Dunn family will succeed in the quest for what is their right for the person who caused this accident and responsible for taking his life to come back to answer the charges. All I can add is for their son to rest in peace.
Go back to the UK and face justice then!
Devastated my ****!
So devastated she ran out of the country. She’s a disgrace.
She should go back and face up to her fine and maybe suspended sentence at worse.. I can’t see what she is afraid of unless it’s something not known to the public…..
She ain’t going back though
The US is a country of many half eejits who believe they are the greatest thing on the planet and can do no wrong and therefore are always right. They have no clue about the rest of the world ,about history or culture or geography, and at least 50% have never left the country and do not possess a passport nor want to. Why would one of theirs own up to and be held responsible for for the death of a foreign man ! Just look at the % of Americans who still back Trump… There’s no talking common sense to these types.
@Terry Cahill: But this is about a couple who not only had passports, but worked abroad. It isn’t about putting 50% of any country on trial. By that reasoning, we could all be locked up for getting a low mark in geography.
#ibelieveher
#istandwithwomen
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