Mother of Harry Dunn tells of ‘burning desire for justice’ after deathbed pledge

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The mother of Harry Dunn marked the first anniversary of his death today saying that his name is “forever written into history”.

Charlotte Charles said she had a “burning desire” to obtain justice for the 19-year-old having made a deathbed promise to him, adding: “I won’t stop until we’ve got that.”

Mr Dunn died after his motorbike was hit by a car being driven by Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence official, outside a military base in Northamptonshire.

Sacoolas, 42, claimed diplomatic immunity and was able to return to her home in Virginia. She was charged with causing death by dangerous driving in December but the US State Department has since rejected an extradition request.

Attorney-General Suella Braverman is now considering holding a “virtual” trial, with Sacoolas able to attend via videolink. Mrs Charles said: “Realising that we’re a year on from when we lost Harry, it’s very difficult to come to terms with.

“When we think about different steps along the way, it feels like some of those steps were an awfully long time ago — almost in a different lifetime. Yet when I think about the last time I held Harry, it seems like yesterday.”

Harry Dunn died in a hit-and-run in August 2019
PA

Mrs Charles, alongside his father Tim Dunn, have seen their fight for justice take them to the White House, where they met Donald Trump. The family have brought legal claims against both the Foreign Secretary and US government.

Asked what had kept her going throughout the campaign, Mrs Charles responded: “Harry. The love you have for your child. The burning desire to want to complete that promise...

“It doesn’t matter to me who she is, what her status is, where she lives, what she does for a job. She needs to go through the UK justice system. Simple as that. I won’t stop until we’ve got that.”

The Dunn family have said they were not able to grieve properly during and after their son’s funeral in September, and only scattered his ashes last month.

Mrs Charles’s MP, former cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom, said the family must get justice to restore goodwill between Britain and the US.

Since the CPS charge in December, the UK Government has tried different methods to resolve the matter and closed the “anomaly” which allowed Sacoolas to claim immunity as the spouse of a diplomat serving at the base.

Asked what she felt was the biggest accomplishment of the campaign to date, Mrs Charles said: “By far getting the treaty changed. Harry’s name is in history now, forever written into history. The ‘Harry Dunn Amendment’ just makes us so very, very proud as a family.”

Last year, a lawyer for Sacoolas said she would not return to the UK voluntarily, arguing a potential 14-year sentence was “not proportionate” for what was “a terrible but unintentional accident”.

Amy Jeffress said: “Anne is devastated and continues to extend her deepest condolences to the family. Anne would do whatever she could to bring Harry back. She is a mother herself and cannot imagine the pain of the loss of a child. She has co-operated fully with the investigation and accepted responsibility.”

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