Harry Dunn damages claim can go ahead, US court rules

Ms Sacoolas fled the UK after the State Department asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf following a crash which killed Mr Dunn outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019.  

Credit: PA/Family Handout 

A US judge has cleared the way for Harry Dunn’s family to bring a civil claim for damages against his alleged killer due to her "refusal" to return to the UK.

Anne Sacoolas had applied to dismiss the case on the grounds it should be heard in the UK, despite her legal team admitting she would not agree to face trial due to a "concern" she would not "receive fair treatment".

Ms Sacoolas fled the UK after the State Department asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf following a crash which killed Mr Dunn outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019.

The 43-year-old was then charged with causing the teenager’s death by dangerous driving but an extradition request was rejected by the US Government in January last year.

Due to her "refusal" to return to the UK, the Dunn family brought a civil claim for damages against her as "a last resort" in the hope of some sort of justice for their son.

In a judgment handed down on Tuesday, a judge dismissed Sacoolas’s submissions that the UK was a "more convenient" forum, keeping the case in Virginia.

Judge Thomas Ellis also took into account the "firm support" of UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who submitted a letter to the court which read: "It is of course for the US courts to decide the issue of venue but for our part the British Government takes the view that British citizens can bring their case in whichever court they think appropriate… I hope therefore (the Dunn family’s) action in the United States is able to proceed."

The Dunn family’s spokesman Radd Seiger has previously said that the family are “looking at a significant compensation claim that will be in the region of millions of dollars”. 

“Bearing in mind that millions of dollars are paid in compensation in the US if you get a cup of coffee split over you, then what price for the death of a son?,” he said when the family filed the claim for civil damages. 

Reacting to Tuesday’s judgment, Mr Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles said: "We are pleased and relieved at the court’s decision.”

Mr Seiger said: "Having studied this judgment we are delighted to see that common sense has prevailed.”