Harry Dunn: Labour calls for inquiry into Anne Sacoolas case

Anne Sacoolas, pictured here in 2020, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for a year, at the Old Bailey

Labour has written to the foreign secretary demanding an inquiry into the government's handling of the case of Anne Sacoolas, who killed Harry Dunn.

The US government employee struck the teenage motorcyclist while driving on the wrong side of the road in Northamptonshire in 2019.

She left the UK via diplomatic immunity soon afterwards and never returned. She was sentenced via video-link last week.

The Foreign Office said it had learned "important lessons" from the case.

Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly asking the government to commit to an inquiry of the case, which happened when the now deputy prime minister Dominic Raab was foreign secretary.

Mr Lammy 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."

He accused the Foreign Office of making a "series of errors which contributed to the family's suffering and delayed justice".

Motorcyclist Harry Dunn, 19, was struck by Sacoolas's car which was travelling on the wrong side of the road

Mr Dunn, 19, died in the crash near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August 2019 after Sacoolas's car struck his motorbike moments after she left the US base.

Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US administration following the crash, because her husband Jonathan worked for a US intelligence agency at the base. They then both left the UK.

Over the past three years, Mr Dunn's family fought to get her to appear before a UK court and face justice. She was sentenced at the Old Bailey via video-link from the US last week, receiving an eight month prison term, suspended for a year.

In his letter, Mr Lammy said Sacoolas's diplomatic immunity should have been waived and asked what assurances the UK had received that the US would "act differently in future cases".

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Mr Lammy also called for the government to publish details of correspondence between MP Chris Pincher, who was a government minister for the Americas at the time, and the US in relation to the case.

The BBC revealed earlier this year that Mr Pincher faced a formal complaint about "inappropriate behaviour" when he was a Foreign Office minister from 2019 to 2020, which resulted in a disciplinary process.

Mr Cleverly said: "Since Harry's death in August 2019 we have been clear that Ms Sacoolas should return to the UK to face British justice.

"Since she chose not to, virtual hearings were arranged as the most viable way to bring the case to court and give justice to Harry's family.

"I want to pay tribute to the incredible resolve of Harry's family and I hope that the judgment provides some closure.

"We have learnt important lessons from this tragic incident, including improvements to the process around exemptions from diplomatic immunity and ensuring the US takes steps to improve road safety around RAF Croughton."

Sacoolas was originally charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but the UK's Crown Prosecution Service accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

She was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

In a statement read to the court, Sacoolas said: "My tragic mistake led to the loss of Harry and I live with this regret every single day.

"There is not a day that goes by that Harry isn't on my mind and I am deeply sorry for the pain that I have caused."