PM phoned Trump to ‘secure justice’ for Harry Dunn
Boris Johnson has held a phone call with Donald Trump in which he “reiterated the need” for the woman charged over Harry Dunn’s death to be returned to the UK.
The prime minister wanted to “secure justice” for the 19-year-old’s family after the US rejected an extradition request for American suspect Anne Sacoolas, according to Number 10.
The family of Harry Dunn have been fighting for Mrs Sacoolas to face trial in the UK after the teenager was killed in a head-on collision with a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August last year.
Mrs Sacoolas, 42, who was driving the car, claimed diplomatic immunity and returned to her home country following the crash. Her husband is believed to be a US intelligence officer.
Mr Johnson raised the topic during a phone conversation with the US president on Friday.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister raised the tragic case of Harry Dunn, and the need to secure justice for Harry’s family.
“He reiterated the need for the individual involved to return to the UK.”
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Mrs Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving by the Crown Prosecution Service in December but has not returned to the UK since the crash.
A spokesperson for the family, Radd Seiger, suggested UK authorities were considering trying Mrs Sacoolas in her absence.
He wrote on Twitter: “I am informed by officials in London that the UK authorities are urgently considering all their options following the rejection of the extradition request including trying #annesacoolas in her absence and issuing an Interpol Red Notice.
“If the US Govt think this is going away…”
Mr Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles, told Sky News on Friday the family had been “prepared” for the US to turn down an extradition request.
“It doesn’t matter when, whether it’s this administration or the next. The extradition request is always going to be over Anna Sacoolas’s head, and we’re never going to give up,” she said.
Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom met the family after holding talks with US ambassador Woody Johnson, the commander of RAF Croughton Colonel Bridget McNamara and the chief constable of Northamptonshire Police.
She told reporters the prime minister is “very much on the side of the family in their desire to see justice done”.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said the extradition request was rejected because it undermined the use of diplomatic immunity, however Mr Dunn’s family disputes whether Mrs Sacoolas was entitled to immunity.
