Harry Dunn's family calls for public inquiry

The family of Harry Dunn, the motorcyclist killed outside an airbase by an American woman, has called for a public inquiry.

An inquest into the 19-year-old's death at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire concluded that he died as a result of a road traffic collision.

The coroner called for driver training to be given to US personnel working in the UK.

Mr Dunn's family criticised the driver, Anne Sacoolas, who was driving on the wrong side of the road in August 2019, for not attending the inquest. A representative of Sacoolas declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

Even though the inquest has now finished, the fight for justice is not yet over for Mr Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles.

She said: "We need a public inquiry to really give us all of the answers to why we were snubbed by the UK government at the very beginning. We went through hell with them and we want to know why.

"We want to make sure that no other family goes through what we went through, with feeling like our own government were not there to help us."

She wrote to the prime minister at the time, Boris Johnson, to urge him to meet with her family after Sacoolas returned to the US claiming diplomatic immunity following the crash.

The mother described the inquest as "one of the worst weeks since actually losing Harry".

She explained it was difficult listening to a "barrage and a tsunami of medical reports" that are now "etched onto that shattered heart like a tattoo".

Ms Charles added: "On the other side of that, we as a family, I think, feel really proud of the point that we have got to and all we achieved for Harry now.

"This whole inquest this week is definitely giving us more hope for the future that actually we can start to move forward now.

"We've got a lot of work to do on ourselves, I think we're going to be reaching out possibly for more help, but we feel we are in a position to do that."

Ms Charles was also highly critical of Sacoolas's decision not to attend the inquest despite being invited to do so.

She did not come to the UK for previous court hearings, choosing instead to appear via video link.

She was sentenced in December 2022 to eight months in prison, suspended for a year, for causing death by careless driving.

Ms Charles said: "I'm disgusted. I think she could have used this week to redeem herself in some small way and she just chose to hide again."

Sacoolas sent a statement to the coroner apologising for her "tragic mistake" which she would "live with every single day for the rest of my life".

The Northamptonshire coroner, Anne Pember, used her powers to issue three Prevention of Future Deaths notices at the end of the inquest.

She urged the UK government to look into pressures on the ambulance service and the US government to introduce driver training for their employees in the UK.

The family's spokesman, Radd Seiger, said: "There's a complete failure to assess the risks of bringing all those Americans here to our rural country roads."

He added that the US government had been invited to the inquest to explain why civilian employees did not get driver training even though military personnel did, but the US did not send a representative.

He said: "Imagine being invited by His Majesty's coroner to come and explain yourselves and effectively thumbing their nose at her, it's extraordinary."

A representative of Sacoolas declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The decision on if a public inquiry takes place would have to be made by the next government."

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