The wife of a US diplomat reportedly claimed immunity and left the UK after being involved in a fatal road accident.
Harry Dunn died in the incident near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27.
The 19 – year-old was riding his motorbike when a woman emerged from the airbase on the wrong side of road and there was a head-on collision, it was reported. He later died in hospital.
Northamptonshire Police met with the suspect, who is the wife of a US diplomat and who claimed immunity, Sky News reported. The legal protection also covers dependents of diplomats.
Police applied for a waiver of the immunity to pursue the case, but their request was rejected and they were told she had left the country, the broadcaster reported, quoting Superintendent Sarah Johnson from Northamptonshire Police.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said he was disappointed by the US decision.
“I wish to offer my condolences to the family affected by this tragic incident,” he told Sky News.
“I have called the US Ambassador to express the UK’s disappointment with their decision, and to urge the Embassy to re-consider it.”
Mr Dunn’s family said they were “disgusted” by the outcome.
“We’re disgusted, appalled, how she could be having this cloak wrapped around her,” his father Tim told Sky News. “I’m angry that someone could do this and then get on a plane and go.
“We don’t know how we can start to grieve for him,” his mother Charlotte Charles added. “We have nothing. No justice. We have nothing to put our minds at rest that she’s even remorseful.”
Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, wrote to the family expressing “profound sadness” at the death, according to Sky News.
The embassy said in a statement to the broadcaster: “We express our deepest sympathies and offer condolences to the family of the deceased in the tragic August 27 traffic accident involving a vehicle driven by the spouse of a US diplomat assigned to the United Kingdom. “
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