Harry Dunn's parents lose High Court battle against Foreign Office
The parents of teenager Harry Dunn have lost their High Court battle against the Foreign Office over whether their son’s alleged killer, Anne Sacoolas, had diplomatic immunity.
The 19-year-old was killed when his motorbike and a car, being driven by American Anne Sacoolas, collided outside RAF Croughton on August 27 last year.
Sacoolas, whose husband Jonathan Sacoolas worked as a technical assistant at the base, left the country a few weeks later after the US said she was entitled to diplomatic immunity.
But, in a High Court judgment delivered today, Lord Justice Flaux and Mr Justice Saini said: "Our conclusion is that Mrs Sacoolas enjoyed immunity from UK criminal jurisdiction at the time of Harry's death."
Speaking to the PA news agency after the ruling, Harry's mother Charlotte Charles said: "The Government and Mrs Sacoolas need to understand that this court ruling is just a blip along the way.
"I promised my boy I would get him justice and that is just what we are going to do. No one is going to stand in our way."
She added: "It's obviously disappointing that this court did not find in our favour but we are more focused now than ever on fulfilling our promise."
His father Tim Dunn told PA: "I still wake up every morning in absolute disbelief that we are in this situation at all. "It's bad enough feeling the horrible pain of not having Harry around and missing him, but I can't believe the governments are putting us through this.<
"It all seems so cruel and needless and I am just as angry today as I ever have been but so determined to see it all through until we have justice."
Mr Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, claim the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) wrongly decided Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity and unlawfully obstructed Northamptonshire Police's investigation into their son's death by keeping the force "in the dark".
Harry's parents initially also took legal action against Northamptonshire Police but that claim was dropped in July. The family's spokesman said the force had been "absolved of any blame".
Lord Justice Flaux and Mr Justice Saini will deliver the High Court ruling remotely at 10am on Tuesday 24 November.