'How could they do this to us?': Harry Dunn’s mother attacks Government after Anne Sacoolas spy claim
The mother of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn has criticised the Government following reports her son’s alleged killer had served as a spy with the CIA.
Charlotte Charles said she and the rest of the 19-year-old’s family were “full of anger” after hearing of Anne Sacoolas’s alleged past and asked of the British Government: “How could they do this to us?”
The Foreign Office said it was told that Sacoolas was a "spouse with no official role".
Ms Charles said the fresh reports in a British newspaper took her back to the early days following her son’s death when she claims the Government “were trying to kick this all under the carpet”.
The Dunn family spokesperson, Radd Seiger, has called for a public inquiry into the matter, saying Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab did not mention the suspect’s reported past as a CIA officer.
It is understood the family have since written to the Foreign Office asking for an explanation as to what they knew about Sacoolas’s history with the CIA.
Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike crashed with a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on August 27 last year.
Sacoolas, the wife of an intelligence official based at RAF Croughton, claimed diplomatic immunity following the crash and was able to return to her home country, sparking an international controversy.
The 42-year-old was charged with causing Mr Dunn’s death by dangerous driving in December, but US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected an extradition request last month after the US State Department said the request would render the invocation of diplomatic immunity a practical nullity and would set an extraordinarily troubling precedent.
The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary have all labelled the extradition refusal a “denial of justice”.
Responding to the latest reports, Mrs Charles said: “How could they do this to us?
“We have thrown ourselves into building relationships with the Government...
“We believe in giving people a second chance. But I am livid today and my family are full of anger.”
Mrs Charles added: “How could they keep this from us?..
"I know Radd is calling for a full public inquiry and an action plan from the Government.
“We will not rest until Anne Sacoolas is back."
Calling for a public inquiry after reports the suspect had served as a CIA officer, Mr Seiger said: “Something has clearly gone very badly wrong and it is no wonder that Boris Johnson has not seen it fit to meet with the parents and I.
“He is the leader of the team and has been nowhere to be seen...
“It is a disgrace that he has not met with us when even Donald Trump has.”
Mr Seiger added: “I now call for a full public inquiry into who knew what and when in Government and into the deplorable manner in which this family have been treated.
“It is high time that the nation can see with full transparency whether or not the Government prioritised protecting the identity of the Sacoolas family over the welfare and rights of Harry’s family.
“The US Government told the FCO that they were going to remove Anne Sacoolas from the UK unless the UK had any strong objections.
“Still to this day, the family have seen no evidence that the UK did indeed raise any such objections and indeed fear that they waved her off at the airport.”
A spokesperson the Foreign Office said: “Anne Sacoolas was notified to us as a spouse with no official role.”
Earlier, former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt urged the US to treat the UK like an ally and extradite Sacoolas.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday it is “totally and utterly unacceptable” that Sacoolas is not facing justice in the UK.
On the claim that Sacoolas might herself have been a CIA agent, Mr Hunt added: “It may have a bearing on it and I don’t know the truth of these things because I’m not foreign secretary any more, but I still think it is totally and utterly unacceptable that she is not facing justice in the UK.
“And if anyone is questioning that I think we just need to ask what would have happened if the boot had been on the other foot, if a British diplomat had been involved in a road accident in the United States where someone had died and had fled on a private plane back to the UK and was evading justice – I don’t think President Trump would stand for that for one second.
“And I would just say to the United States, I’m someone who is the strongest supporter of the special relationship, I think in a very uncertain world the democracies of the world need to stand together, but if we’re going to be in an alliance we need to treat each other like allies and that is not happening.”