"The report's author, Dame Anne Owers, highlighted failings and omissions in the department when dealing with Harry's death in August 2019. It is understood Owers told the Dunn family it was her strong view that Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary at the time of the incident, should have been involved far earlier in the process, with his private office being copied into a note three days after the crash expressing concern over potentially unpalatable headlines."
"Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, and father, Tim Dunn, were critical of the Foreign Office in 2019, after senior officials told the US government they should feel able to put the US suspect Anne Sacoolas on the next flight home after the fatal road crash. The US state department asserted diplomatic immunity on behalf of Sacoolas, who left the UK 19 days after the incident outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire."
An independent review found the Foreign Office did not treat Harry Dunn's death as a crisis and missed opportunities to influence the US after diplomatic immunity was asserted for the suspect. The review identified failings and omissions in handling the August 2019 incident and said senior ministers should have been involved earlier. Senior officials told the US government it could repatriate the suspect, Anne Sacoolas, who left the UK 19 days after the crash and whose diplomatic immunity was asserted. The Dunn family campaigned for three years; Sacoolas later pleaded guilty and received a suspended prison sentence. The family said officials lacked honesty and urgency and that opportunities were missed.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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