An independent inquiry into the death of Harry Dunn could be set up as early as November, the Foreign Secretary has told the teenager’s family.
Harry’s mother, Charlotte Charles, told the PA news agency her family was a “victim” of the previous Conservative government’s “terrible approach to working class people like us”.
The teenage motorcyclist was killed when a Volvo driven by then-US State Department employee Anne Sacoolas hit him while on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf following the crash and she was able to leave the country 19 days later.
Sacoolas appeared before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey by video-link in December 2022, where she pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
She was advised against attending her sentencing hearing by her employer, and Mr Dunn’s family said they were “horrified” that the US government was “actively interfering in our criminal justice system”.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb handed Sacoolas an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
The Dunn family’s spokesman Radd Seiger said Foreign Secretary David Lammy had “expressed a strong commitment to addressing the failings we encountered within the political and diplomatic systems in London”.
He said the Foreign Secretary wanted the inquiry set up “sooner rather than later” and had indicated it could be set up “as early as November”.
Speaking after the meeting on Tuesday, Mrs Charles told PA: “We are incredibly grateful to Mr Lammy for finding the time to meet with us this afternoon and for agreeing to set up this important inquiry.
“He made it clear that he is determined to ensure that all lessons are learned from the way we were treated. I can’t thank him enough.
“It’s over five years since we lost Harry and we miss him terribly every day. We are doing the best to pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and we just try to take life a minute at a time.
“At long last we feel that we are being fully supported by our own Government, having been so badly let down by the ministers and officials who were responsible for helping us when Harry died but who did the opposite.”
“They thought we were nobodies from rural England. They thought that Harry’s life did not matter.
“Well, we are human beings like everyone is, and Harry’s life was as important as anyone else’s.
“The Foreign Office and government deserve no credit and that’s not how it is supposed to work.”
Mr Seiger claimed the Foreign Office is an “elitist institution that is simply not set up to help ordinary people”, and said Mr Lammy had made it clear the inquiry would ensure “lessons are learned”.
He told PA: “We all know that the primary villains here were Anne Sacoolas and her employer the US government, but when we turned to the then-Tory government for help to right this wrong, their initial reaction was to fob us off.
“The Foreign Office does amazing work all around the world in advancing Britain’s interests and supporting nationals abroad, but it is an elitist institution that is simply not set up to help ordinary people like Harry’s family who are in need of support at home when their rights are being abused by foreign states. It considers itself above all that.
“David Lammy and Labour have been clear from the moment we engaged with them in 2019 that they would hold an inquiry into the series of failures at the time that led to the scandal of the treatment of Harry’s family and ensure that lessons are learned.
“Today he was true to his word and we now look forward to supporting and working with the chair of inquiry.
Mr Seiger continued: “It should not have taken the courage and tenacity of the family and the campaign team to right this wrong. That is what a government is for.
“David Lammy has today expressed a strong commitment to addressing the failings we encountered within the political and diplomatic systems in London.
“With the inquiry’s help, together we must ensure that the voices of bereaved families are heard at the highest levels of government and that their rights are never compromised in favour of currying favour with other more powerful governments.”
