Harry Dunn killer ‘needed more’ driving lessons before coming to the UK, coroner rules

Harry had been riding his motorcycle when he was hit head-on (Picture: PA)

An inquest has found that teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn died as result of road traffic collision.

Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember also criticised the US government over a lack of training for diplomatic personnel at RAF Croughton before Mr Dunn’s death in 2019.

Harry was riding a motorcycle in August 2019 when he was killed in a head-on collision with a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.

The Volvo was being driven on the wrong side of the road by US spy Anne Sacoolas, who was handed an eight-month suspended sentence in December 2022.

The family of Harry have said they are looking forward to working with ‘the next government to establish this public inquiry’ after accusing the US government of ‘obstructing’ their son’s inquest.

Both representatives of the US embassy and driver Anne Sacoolas were absent from the four-day inquest – prompting spokesman Radd Seiger to say the US government’s position is that ‘lives of UK citizens like Harry ultimately do not matter’.

Anne Sacoolas initially claimed diplomatic immunity (Picture: Shutterstock)

Now Ms Pember has recorded his death as being as a result of ‘injuries sustained during a head-on collision’ with a car on the wrong side of the road.

Sacoolas appeared before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey via video-link in December 2022, where she pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

The 45-year-old had fled the UK 19 days after the incident near RAF Croughton using her diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government.

Mr Radd Seiger, a spokesman for Harry’s family, said: ‘We were all horrified as a nation to see how the US government treated Harry’s family. This must never happen again.

‘The American national anthem ends land of the free home of the brave. They haven’t demonstrated an ounce of bravery at all preferring to run, hide and obstruct.’

Mr Seiger also said Labour had promised the family a public inquiry into how Sacoolas was able to cause Harry’s death and leave the country after diplomatic immunity was asserted on her behalf.

The Old Bailey previously heard how Harry begged not to die after being struck by Sacoola’s vehicle.

And after fighting for three years for justice, Dunn’s mother broke down in tears as she recalled her son’s ‘haunting’ death.

Sacoolas wiped away a tear as Charlotte Charles, 46, read a victim impact statement at London’s Old Bailey, saying: ‘For 19 years, I had the enormous privilege and joy of nurturing and raising Harry who was the light of my life before he was so senselessly and cruelly taken from us.

‘Harry just disappeared out of my life that night, shattering my existence forever. I didn’t make it to the hospital in time before he passed and the thought of that haunts me to my core.

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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