Harry Dunn's family hope second funeral is 'last goodbye' for teenager killed outside RAF Croughton

Tim Dunn, Harry Dunn's father, spoke to ITV News Anglia following his son's second funeral.


The family of Harry Dunn said holding a second funeral for him was harder than the first, after police returned clothing containing bodily tissue four years on from his death.

The second cremation for the teenage motorcyclist killed in a crash with a US spy was held at Banbury Crematorium on Friday.

His family said they had been "re-traumatised" after Northamptonshire Police returned his clothes earlier this month.

Speaking to ITV News Anglia following the service, his father Tim Dunn said: "It breaks you, still, every time when stuff like this comes.

"You think you're getting forward or moving on with your life but you just can't do it. It just seems to kick you again and again.

"Hopefully I've now said my last goodbye to my son and we can move forward with this part of it.

"Hopefully now he can be at peace or at rest, or whatever [of that] there is for us."

Charlotte Charles Credit: James Manning/PA

The 19-year-old's mother Charlotte Charles said: "It re-traumatises, of course it does. You never think you're going to come here twice for the same loved one. When it's your son, I don't think it can be any worse.

"Little did we know four-and-a-half years ago that we had all of what we've been through to come," she said.

"Today is very much about the fact that we've ridden out those storms.

"This is another terrific storm that we are riding. But we'll get the answers that we need. We'll come out the other side."

Harry Dunn was killed outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in 2019 and police told his family all of his belongings had been destroyed in the crash in a "huge explosion".

The family were then told before Christmas that several items survived, including clothing, the helmet, and the frame of the bike.

The items had been frozen and preserved, pending the conclusion of criminal proceedings in December 2022.

The road outside RAF Croughton, where Harry Dunn died after his motorbike was hit by a car. Credit: PA

The family's spokesman Radd Seiger said there had been a "massive breakdown in protocol and communication" by Northamptonshire Police.

Northamptonshire Police said: "Recently, police examined the items in order to repatriate them with the family, at which time human remains were subsequently discovered on Harry’s clothing.

“Working with HM Coroner’s office in Northamptonshire, an officer returned the human remains to a funeral director on 7 February at the request of Harry’s family."

Det Ch Supt Emma James added she would be meeting the family in the coming days to “ensure complete transparency”.

Friday's cremation is the latest in a long process for Harry Dunn's family following his death.

His case has been examined by foreign secretaries, US presidents and prime ministers.

Anne Sacoolas was driving a car that was in collision with Harry Dunn's motorbike. Credit: PA Media

Former US spy Anne Sacoolas was driving a Volvo on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton on 27 August 2019 when she crashed into the teenager's motorbike.

The US said Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity and allowed to leave the UK 19 days after the crash.

In December 2022, she pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving as she appeared before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey via video-link.

She was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

The Dunn family had taken their four-year campaign for justice to the US, which led to a meeting with then-president Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC.


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