US man faces extradition over nurse's crash injuries

Elizabeth Donowho, a mental health nurse, suffered multiple fractures in the crash, last July

A US citizen is facing extradition to the UK after a car crash in Herefordshire left a mental health nurse seriously injured.

Issac Calderon, who has been charged by police in the UK with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, has been arrested in Texas to facilitate a US court hearing scheduled for Monday, according to the West Mercia force.

Elizabeth Donowho, 56, from Malvern, Worcestershire, said she was left unable to walk for six weeks after the crash on the A4103 near Shucknall in July 2023.

Mr Calderon left the UK on a commercial flight to Texas on 25 November ahead of a scheduled UK court hearing the following month, which he did not attend.

Police have told Ms Donowho that Monday's hearing in the US relates to potential "extradition to the UK".

Ms Donowho suffered multiple fractures in the crash, including breaks in both ankles, her right hand and sternum.

No diplomatic immunity issues

Radd Seiger, a spokesman for her, said in a statement to the Press Association (PA) news agency: "It is almost a year since Elizabeth suffered the crash which very nearly took her life.

"We do not know why the extradition process has taken so long but we are delighted to see that it is now under way and we look forward to Mr Calderon being returned to the UK shortly so that he can face our justice system.

"He is of course innocent of the charges he faces until proven otherwise."

PA said it understood there were no issues surrounding diplomatic immunity in his case.

Police previously told Ms Donowho that Mr Calderon's work related to matters that might have come under the Official Secrets Act.

After being asked for a response by the BBC, the Home Office said: “It is long-standing government policy that we do not comment on individual cases.”