HARRY DUNN CRASH DEATH: HOW THE DIPLOMATIC ROW UNFOLDED
British police are being sent to the US to interview the wife of an intelligence officer involved in a car crash that killed 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn. Here are the key events in a two-month saga that has seen the teenager's family take their fight for justice all the way to the White House.
- August 27:
Motorcyclist Harry Dunn collides with a Volvo thought to be driving on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
Mr Dunn is taken to the John Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford but is pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
- August 28:
Northamptonshire Police interview 42-year-old suspect Anne Sacoolas, who is later granted diplomatic immunity.
- September 15:
Mrs Sacoolas leaves the country on a United States Air Force plane, but the Dunn family are not informed of her departure until three weeks later.
Northamptonshire Police are also not told that she has left the UK.
- October 4:
Mr Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, call on US President Donald Trump to intervene and waive immunity for Mrs Sacoolas.
- October 5:
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urges US Ambassador Woody Johnson to waive immunity for Mrs Sacoolas.
- October 6:
Police write to the US Embassy in London to demand immunity is waived for Mrs Sacoolas.
- October 7:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the US should "reconsider its position" on the immunity given to Mrs Sacoolas.
- October 9:
Mrs Charles and Mr Dunn attend a meeting with the Foreign Secretary which leaves them "angry and frustrated" and feeling as though it was a "publicity stunt".
Mr Johnson speaks to Mr Trump personally to ask him to reconsider the US's position on the immunity granted to Mrs Sacoolas.
Mr Trump defends the suspect, saying that driving on the wrong side of the road "happens".
- October 12:
Mrs Sacoolas breaks her silence and issues a statement through her lawyer, saying the crash left her "devastated".
- October 13:
The Foreign Office writes to Mr Dunn's family saying Mrs Sacoolas does not have diplomatic immunity.
It becomes clear that her husband was an intelligence officer and not a registered diplomat in a recognised role, and therefore neither he nor his wife are entitled to diplomatic immunity.
- October 14:
Mr Dunn's family hold a press conference in New York after taking their fight for justice to the US - with Mrs Charles saying the suspect should get on a plane to the UK because it is the "right thing to do".
- October 15:
Mr Dunn's family announce their intention to launch a judicial review into the advice given by the Foreign Office to Northamptonshire Police over the diplomatic immunity given to Mrs Sacoolas.
The White House calls an "urgent" meeting with Mr Dunn's family and they have talks with President Trump.
Mrs Charles and Mr Dunn refuse to meet Mrs Sacoolas, who was in the room next door as they met Mr Trump.
- October 20:
The Dunn family are told Northamptonshire Police have passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision.
- October 21:
Radd Seiger, the Dunn family's adviser and spokesman, reveals on Twitter that Northamptonshire Police had told them they would be sending officers to the US to interview Mrs Sacoolas.
Mr Seiger describes the decision to pass the file to the CPS and the decision to send investigators to the US as "contradictory".
He tweets: "Come on authorities, you have to do better than this. The family deserve it and are entitled to your best service. Our door remains open to a constructive dialogue."
Published: by Radio NewsHub