Harry Dunn's family seeks inquiry promised by Labour

Harry Dunn wearing green top and standing by a wallImage source, Family handout
Image caption,

Harry Dunn died in 2019 following a crash close to RAF Croughton

  • Published

The family of Harry Dunn, a teenage motorcyclist killed in a crash near a US airbase, has called on the Labour government to honour its promise of an inquiry.

Mr Dunn's family, from Northamptonshire, has written to Foreign Secretary David Lammy calling for a meeting to discuss setting one up.

Mr Lammy wrote to the then-Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, in 2022 to demand an inquiry.

Harry Dunn's family has also asked for a Minister for Victims to be appointed. The BBC has contacted the Foreign Office for a response.

Harry Dunn, 19, lost his life near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire after a car driven on the wrong side of the road by an American citizen collided with his motorbike.

The driver of the car, Anne Sacoolas, took advantage of diplomatic immunity and flew back to the US.

The teenager's family campaigned to get Sacoolas back to the UK to face trial.

She was eventually sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for a year, for causing death by careless driving.

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

David Lammy called for an inquiry when he was shadow foreign secretary

In his letter to Mr Cleverly in 2022, David Lammy, then shadow foreign secretary, made the case for an inquiry.

He said: "The pain the Dunn family have had to endure, made worse by a series of failures in Foreign Office, must never be repeated.

"No other family can ever be allowed to go through this again."

Last month, it was reported that the Labour Party had confirmed an inquiry, external would be held if it was asked to form a government.

The letter from Mr Dunn's family, written by their spokesperson Radd Seiger, said: "We are of course delighted that Labour won the election."

The letter has set out the issues the family believe should be covered:

  • The "failure" of the Conservative government in their handling of the case

  • The "failure" of the authorities to deal with road safety outside US bases

  • The treatment of victims of serious crime "in our country".

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,

Radd Seiger (right) wrote the letter on behalf of Harry's mother (centre), her partner and the rest of the family

The family suggested other relatives had been "let down by the state", including those of the Nottingham knife attack victims. They said a Minister for Victims would ensure they were not "abandoned".

The family wanted to meet the Foreign Secretary to discuss the appointment of an inquiry chair and the scope of the inquiry.

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