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Anne Sacoolas: Harry Dunn’s alleged killer a more senior spy than husband, report claims

‘I do not know what the government think they are doing or why they are treating us the way they are,’ teen’s mother says

Vincent Wood
Sunday 09 February 2020 22:04 GMT
Police probing footage of vehicle near Harry Dunn RAF base

The mother of teenager Harry Dunn has hit out at the UK government after it was reported his alleged killer had served in the CIA.

The family of the motorcyclist have struggled with both US and UK officials as they push for Anne Sacoolas to stand trial, having been accused of driving on the wrong side of the road when she allegedly collided with the 19-year-old near RAF Craughton in Northamptonshire .

Now Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles has said the family is “full of anger” following claims Ms Sacoolas, who was able to flee the country after claiming diplomatic immunity due to her husband’s work as an intelligence analyst, was employed as an agent by the CIA.

As first reported by the Mail on Sunday, who cited officials on both sides of the Atlantic, Ms Sacoolas is believed to have been more senior in intelligence circles than her husband, but had reportedly not been conducting spy operations in the UK at the time of the incident.

Ms Charles said the claim took her back to the early days following her son’s death when she claims the British government was “trying to kick this all under the carpet”.

The family is understood to have written to the Foreign Office asking for an explanation as to what it knew about Ms Sacoolas’s history with the CIA.

She added: “We are determined to make sure that this never happens to another family again. I do not know what the government think they are doing or why they are treating us the way they are.

“It is an absolute scandal and I know [family spokesman Radd Seiger] is calling for a full public inquiry and an action plan from the government.

“We will not rest until Anne Sacoolas is back and we have secured the safety of the nation in so far as so-called diplomats committing crimes here in the UK is concerned.”

Harry Dunn's family hail ‘huge step’ as US suspect charged over his death

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: “Anne Sacoolas was notified to us as a spouse with no official role.”

Since leaving the country Ms Sacoolas has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving – but the US is refusing to extradite the 42-year-old, and last month US secretary of state Mike Pompeo refused to explain why.

On a visit to London the official was asked why he was allowing “a US citizen to run over and kill an English boy and evade justice”, but declined to say what lay behind the decision.

Instead, he said London and Washington were “doing everything we can to make it right” and seeking “a resolution that reflects the tragedy that took place”.

Speaking on Sunday, former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said the US should treat the UK like an ally and extradite Ms Sacoolas.

Speaking on Sky News, he said: “I think we just need to ask what would have happened if the boot had been on the other foot, if a British diplomat had been involved in a road accident in the United States where someone had died and had fled on a private plane back to the UK and was evading justice – I don’t think President Trump would stand for that for one second.

“And I would just say to the United States, I’m someone who is the strongest supporter of the special relationship, I think in a very uncertain world the democracies of the world need to stand together, but if we’re going to be in an alliance we need to treat each other like allies and that is not happening.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

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