Harry Dunn’s family welcome support from US public for extradition bid
The family of Harry Dunn have welcomed a poll showing support from the US public in their bid to have the suspect in the fatal motorcycle crash case brought back to the UK.
Almost two thirds of Americans surveyed said they would support the extradition of Anne Sacoolas, who is charged in connection with the death of the 19-year-old.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo rejected an extradition request by the UK Government for Mrs Sacoolas on Thursday.
Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike collided with a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year.
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Mrs Sacoolas, 42, the wife of a US intelligence official based at RAF Croughton, was granted diplomatic immunity after the crash, sparking an international controversy.
The Dunn family’s spokesman Radd Seiger said the poll results show “they and we are right, and Pompeo is just wrong”.
In a statement to the PA news agency, Mr Seiger said: “Harry’s parents have been clear from the outset that you don’t get to hop on a plane after you have been involved in a serious collision leading to the loss of life, whether you are a diplomat or not.
“That is not the way modern international society works and this was always a disgusting and grotesque attempt to abuse the Vienna Convention.
“We have always had tremendous support from our friends right across the USA.
“This poll simply proves that they and we are right, and Pompeo is just wrong.”
The YouGov poll showed 64% of Americans would support the suspect’s extradition.
The breakdown was similar among both Democrats and Republicans, and of the 1,352 US adults surveyed, 9% are opposed to her extradition.
The remaining 27% said they did not know.
The survey comes just a day before Mr Pompeo is due to have a meeting with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has described the extradition request refusal as “a denial of justice”.
Earlier on Tuesday, a lawyer representing alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein said the US should help with the investigation into Mr Dunn’s death if it wants co-operation in its bid to quiz the Duke of York as part of its sex trafficking inquiry.
Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epstein’s alleged victims, tweeted: “If we want cooperation, we must cooperate in their investigations too.”
She spoke out after US lawyer Geoffrey Berman revealed Prince Andrew had provided “zero co-operation” in the Epstein investigation, despite his lawyers being contacted by prosecutors and the FBI.