Harry Dunn family confident High Court will rule Northamptonshire teen's 'killer' did not have diplomatic immunity

Harry Dunn's family feels confident the High Court will rule the Northamptonshire teenager's alleged killer did not have diplomatic immunity after their judicial review concluded today (Thursday, November 12).

The campaigners face a nervous wait as the judges reserved their judgement on the case brought against the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

They argue the government should not have granted Anne Sacoolas protection from prosecution and civil servants interfered in Northamptonshire Police's investigation into the fatal crash near Croughton last year.

The Foreign Office and United States government believe the fact the waiver did not explicitly include spouses means it did not apply to the American driver and deny obstructing the force.

The family's spokesman, Radd Seiger, said: "The parents feel totally vindicated and justified in bringing this claim against the Foreign Office.

"It's clear that they have a very strong case, we are delighted that the court has given the parents a fair hearing, in fact, both sides had a fair hearing.

"It is a complicated case but we are very hopeful that the court is going to find in the parents' favour in that Anne Sacoolas did not have diplomatic immunity and that the FCDO interfered with the police investigation by allowing her to leave last year but we will see."

Harry, 19, died after a head-on crash between his motorcycle and Sacoolas' car, which was on the wrong side of the road, near Croughton in August last year.

The American woman claimed diplomatic immunity the next day using a loophole in the waiver agreement for US service personnel at RAF Croughton and left the UK for home a few weeks later.

The US government rejected an extradition request from the Home Office in January after Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Throughout, Harry's family has been campaigning for Sacoolas to come back for more than 12 months and the judicial review was brought to challenge Sacoolas' diplomatic immunity claim.

A decision is expected from Lord Justice Flaux and Mr Justice Saini 'in a couple of weeks' after two-day virtual hearing, Mr Seiger said.

"In the meantime, the parents are clearly exhausted, it's never easy spending time in court, particularly when you're hearing talk about your 19-year-old son who they lost last year," he added.

"They're tired, they're emotional but they are still here fighting for justice for their son and that is incredibly impressive and an honour to represent them."