Harry Dunn's parents drop legal claim against Northamptonshire Police

Harry Dunn's parents have dropped their legal claim against Northamptonshire Police after deciding the force wasn't to blame for events following the teenager's death.

The 19-year-old's family are set for a two-day judicial review hearing at the High Court in November where they allege the Foreign Secretary "obstructed justice" by allowing suspect Anne Sacoolas to leave the UK.

Northamptonshire Police were brought into the legal claim in January as Mr Dunn's mother Charlotte Charles and father Tim Dunn sought to understand how Sacoolas was able to claim diplomatic immunity following the fatal crash outside RAF Croughton in August last year.

The PA news agency understands the force will now only be involved in the claim as an "interested party" on the request of Chief Constable Nick Adderley.

The Dunn family has decided to discontinue proceedings against the police after alleging that documents disclosed for court proceedings demonstrated the force was "kept in the dark" by the Foreign Office.

The Northamptonshire force also claims the FCO did not tell it about the risk of Sacoolas being withdrawn from the UK or the existence of a waiver in respect of her husband Jonathan's immunity - preventing officers from interviewing him as a witness.

In December last year, Anne Sacoolas was charged with causing Mr Dunn's death by dangerous driving but an extradition request submitted by the Home Office was rejected by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January.

The US State Department described the decision as "final" but the UK and the US have since agreed to amend the "anomaly" which allowed Sacoolas to claim diplomatic immunity.

Mr Seiger continued by saying "Our case remains that the documents clearly show how the police investigation was effectively stopped in its tracks abruptly when the Foreign Office told the police shortly after Harry died that Mrs Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity. We say the documents reveal that the Foreign Office kept the police in the dark for 14 days about the uncertainty surrounding Mrs Sacoolas' claim to immunity. They failed to tell them that Mrs Sacoolas was planning to leave the country, and then did not tell the police that she had gone until the day after she left."

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: "This is an ongoing legal matter and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time."