Dominic Raab urges US to 'do the right thing' over diplomat's wife involved in fatal crash
Anne Sacoolas is believed to have been involved in a car crash that killed British teenager Harry Dunn.
Wednesday 9 October 2019 09:16, UK
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has urged the US to "reconsider its position" on granting diplomatic immunity to an American woman who was involved in a car crash that killed a British teenager.
Mr Raab met the US ambassador on Tuesday to request Anne Sacoolas, who flew to the US after the fatal crash in Northamptonshire in August, be returned to the UK.
In a statement, a Foreign Office spokesman told Sky News: "The foreign secretary met with the US ambassador today and urged the US to reconsider its position and do the right thing by Harry Dunn's family."
Mrs Sacoolas, 42, left the UK not long after the death of Harry Dunn, 19, which police believe happened when she pulled out on to the wrong side of the road as she emerged from RAF Croughton on 27 August.
Earlier, the Foreign Office disputed claims that her husband Jonathan Sacoolas was not a registered diplomat and that she was therefore not eligible for the protections afforded to her.
International lawyer Mark Stephens told Sky News that Mr Sacoolas was not on the published list of accredited diplomats in the UK, but the Foreign Office insisted he was an accredited diplomat in the eyes of the British government and his wife was entitled to diplomatic immunity.
Sky News has been told protections granted by the Vienna Convention, which is enshrined in international law, were extended to the RAF base in the 1990s and it is regarded by the UK as an annex to the US embassy in London.
Asked about any bilateral arrangements protecting US intelligence operatives from prosecution, the Foreign Office said it could not comment on intelligence matters.
It added that the list of diplomats published on the government website was not a comprehensive list and only covered diplomatic staff based in London.
Mr Stephens had earlier said details confirmed to him by the Foreign Office had suggested that Mr Sacoolas should not have diplomatic immunity.
He said he may have instead been protected by a bilateral agreement between the UK and US, affording certain protections to American intelligence operatives in the UK and the bases they work in.
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That would have been different to the immunity granted by the Vienna Convention - a distinction Mr Stephens said would have meant the Foreign Office and police may have been wrong in allowing Mrs Sacoolas to leave.
Mr Stephens told Sky News: "There is a treaty between the two governments.
"That treaty though doesn't bind Northamptonshire Police and it doesn't bind the family of this poor boy who was deceased, and as a consequence they can apply for her extradition to come back to face manslaughter charges."
Harry's parents they want Mrs Sacoolas to return to the UK to apologise face-to-face.
Mr Stephens indicated that the family of Harry Dunn may have other options to pursue.
He said: "Now she's returned to the US, the family are entitled to sue her.
"This isn't about money, this is about them understanding an explanation of how she came to kill their son, and I think the British government - if they're not going to repatriate her - should actually be funding the family to sue in America so they can get the explanation they so richly deserve."
When asked for comment, the US embassy told Sky News it "has nothing at this time".
Meanwhile, a crowdfunding page set up for the family of Harry has reached its £10,000 target.
The GoFundMe page, called "Justice 4 Harry", is intended to help the family begin their "campaign to search for justice" and to help Harry's twin brother Niall.
It reads: "This funding page is being set up to help the family and his twin brother Niall through these traumatic times and to build up a fund as the family embark on a campaign to search for justice for Harry as the legal process unfolds."