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Foreign Office failed to question immunity in Harry Dunn case
The Guardian
|December 04, 2025
Foreign Office failures led to chances being missed to achieve justice for the family of Harry Dunn over his death in a crash outside a US airbase, an independent review has found.
Dame Anne Owers, who led the review, said: "Ministers and senior officials were not involved early enough, and this meant that opportunities were lost to influence - rather than respond to - events.
"Direct communication with the family was late and sporadic, and the Foreign Office was slow to realise that they were allies in achieving justice and securing positive change."
Dunn was 19 when his motorcycle was hit by a car driven on the wrong side of the road by Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US state department official based at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. Sacoolas, who had been in the country for only three weeks, admitted responsibility.
She was allowed to leave Britain under immunity from criminal prosecution even though a 1995 agreement between the US and the UK waived immunity for the base's directly employed staff.
This story is from the December 04, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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