This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/23/harry-dunn-us-rejects-extradition-request-for-anne-sacoolas

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Harry Dunn: UK says US denying Anne Sacoolas extradition request is a 'denial of justice' Harry Dunn family condemns US rejection of Anne Sacoolas extradition request
(about 3 hours later)
Home office says it is ‘urgently considering options’ after decision by US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo Home office says it is urgently considering options, calling decision a ‘denial of justice’
An extradition request for the US woman charged with causing the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn has been turned down by secretary of state Mike Pompeo, the family spokesman has said. Donald Trump has been accused of taking a wrecking ball to the US-UK special relationship after Washington rejected a British government request to extradite Anne Sacoolas, who is accused of killing a teenage motorcyclist.
The 19-year-old’s parents were informed of Pompeo’s decision in a phone call with their constituency MP Andrea Leadsom on Thursday. Harry Dunn died after a crash outside a US military base in Croughton, Northamptonshire on 27 August 2019.
On Friday Britain called the decision a “denial of justice”. Sacoolas, 42, was charged with causing his death by dangerous driving in December. Agreements between the UK and US about the base meant Sacoolas, as the wife of an intelligence agent on the site, had diplomatic immunity. She returned to the US after the crash, and the extent of co-operation by British officials in her departure is one of many controversies of the case.
“We are disappointed in this decision, which appears to be a denial of justice,” a spokeswoman for the Home Office said. The Home Office described the decision by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to reject an extradition request as a “denial of justice”.
“We are urgently considering our options.” The decision was relayed to the home secretary, Priti Patel, late on Thursday.
Dunn was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car outside a US military base in Northamptonshire on 27 August 2019. A spokesman for the Dunn family claimed Trump was determined to protect Sacoolas from the outset and said it was the first time the US had rejected such an extradition request by the UK.
Anne Sacoolas, 42, was charged with causing his death by dangerous driving in December. She was granted diplomatic immunity and was able to return to the US, sparking an international controversy. Radd Seiger, the family spokesman, said: “This administration is heaving lawlessly and taking a wrecking ball to one of the greatest alliances in the word. This is a lawless, corrupt administration that appears intent on attacking even its closest international ally.”
The case has been a thorn in London’s close relations with Washington, stirring up debates over the limits of diplomatic immunity in cases unrelated to national security. He urged the British government to meet the family to discuss the next steps, but seemed to acknowledge Sacoolas would not be returning to face charges of causing death by dangerous driving, at least until a new administration was elected in Washington. He said: “This administration will go away, but this extradition request will never go away.”
A family spokesman, Radd Seiger, said Dunn’s parents “were not at all surprised”. Boris Johnson had foreshadowed the decision in a new year interview, but politically it is a blow to his claim, before trade talks, that a close political relationship with Trump will bring the UK privileged results.
“This is a lawless, corrupt administration that appears intent on attacking even its closest international ally,” he said. The Home Office said: “We are disappointed in this decision, which appears to be a denial of justice. We are urgently considering our options.”
“If Trump and Pompeo think this is an end to the matter, they have another think coming to them.” The Dunn family’s constituency MP, Andrea Leadsom, will meet the US ambassador to London, Woody Johnson, on Friday to discuss the extradition request, and is expected to report her discussion to the Dunn family.
The family would meet with the government to discuss the next steps but said “the fight goes on” for justice for their son. In its statement refusing the UK extradition request, the US state department said Sacoolas had immunity from criminal jurisdiction throughout her stay in the UK.
Seiger told BBC Radio 5 that he understood no reason had been given for Washington’s decision.
“The reality is they can’t give a reason because there is no good reason,” he said. “It’s simply an unlawful act, and we knew it was coming.
“We’ll simply take it in our stride. Everybody’s relaxed, we knew this day was coming.
“Team Harry will sit down with the government tomorrow and work out our next steps.
“And next steps there will be. The whole world is on team Harry’s side. This is not a battle the US government is going to win.”
Lawyers acting on behalf of the Dunn family have said it is the first time in the 100-year history of the extradition treaty that such a request had been turned down by the US.
But the US state department said Sacoolas had immunity from criminal jurisdiction during her stay in the UK.
“If the United States were to grant the UK’s extradition request, it would render the invocation of diplomatic immunity a practical nullity and would set an extraordinarily troubling precedent,” it said.“If the United States were to grant the UK’s extradition request, it would render the invocation of diplomatic immunity a practical nullity and would set an extraordinarily troubling precedent,” it said.
The case has been a political headache for the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, who is cultivating trade relations with Washington hoping to offset the potential damage of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. The US president has called the crash a “terrible accident”, saying it was common for Americans in Britain to have difficulty driving on the left side of the road.
The US president, Donald Trump, has called the crash a “terrible accident”, saying it was common for Americans in Britain to have difficulty driving on the left side of the road. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Seiger said: “History was made last night. It is the first time the US has turned down a UK extradition request. It is one of the darkest days in the history of this special relationship. Boris Johnson wanted to be prime minister and he is now being tested severely. I am expecting him to come today to meet me and the family and tell us what he is going to do about it.
“Is the US position now is that it is OK for their service personnel to come over to the UK and kill British citizens and get on the next plane home? There is not a single person round here who is going to stand for that.”
He also claimed scores of other people had been killed or seriously injured in recent years due to inexperience of driving on the left. Official figures show 32 had been killed between 2015 and 2018, and more than 400 seriously injured.
US commanders at the Croughton listening base have instigated driving refresher courses in an effort to prevent American servicemen and women forgetting to drive on the left. Northamptonshire police have offered free courses to US personnel.
The Dunn family, who have met Trump in the White House to discuss their plight, had been a seeking judicial review of the claim that Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity, arguing that the agreement between the UK and US over the base either did not give staff that status, or that if it did the agreement was in breach of the Vienna convention covering diplomatic immunity.
The Foreign Office has warned it will seek costs against the Dunn family over any judicial review since it was normal to protect taxpayers’ money in this way. The Dunn family claim the costs threat is an attempt to suppress their attempts to find the truth, including the interactions between the Foreign Office, the US embassy and the Northamptonshire police.
One of the barristers acting for the Dunn family tweeted: “Even if Sacoolas had immunity whilst she was in the UK, everyone seems to accept she doesn’t have it now. There is therefore no reason arising from international law that the request is an ‘abuse’ or for it to be refused.”