Harry Dunn’s parents have turned down a surprise meeting with the
American woman who killed their son as
Donald Trump personally greeted them at the
White House to broker a solution. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, parents of the 19 year-old, said that the US president had been warm and sympathetic towards them, but told them that the driver, Anne Sacoolas, would not leave America. The Dunn family said Mrs Sacoolas was also in the building when they spoke with Mr Trump and had offered to meet with them, but they declined. Mrs Sacoolas, the wife of an American diplomat, was driving her car on the wrong side of the road in Northamptonshire when she crashed into the teenager on Aug 27, killing him. Harry's parents had arrived in
New York on Sunday to try and convince Mrs Sacoolas to return to the UK and face justice. Meeting with
President Trump complete. We will review where we are up to and determine next steps shortly when we will comment further. In the meantime the search for Justice4Harry continues.— Radd Seiger (@RaddSeiger) 15 October 2019 They were invited to a meeting at the White House on Tuesday evening and met with Mr Trump there. The Dunns said that while the president had been respectful and told them he would look at their case again, he also said the US position remained the same and that Mrs Sacoolas would not be returning to the UK. Mr Dunn said they had chosen not to speak with Mrs Sacoolas at the White House, adding: "We weren't ready to meet her, it would have been too rushed. "It's not what we wanted - we wanted a meeting with her in the UK." Shortly before they arrived at the White House, Mr Dunn's parents said they hoped the meeting would prove a "positive development" in their fight for justice. Mr Dunn told Sky News: "Hopefully it's good news that she's [Ms Sacoolas] coming back to the
UK and the government has said this is the way to go." He added: "We came to America to get our point across and Anne back to the UK. If are going to the White House, surely this is a good step forward." Mrs Sacoolas has, through her lawyer, urged the family to "call off the media", the family's spokesman has said. Radd Seiger told the PA news agency that Mrs Sacoolas's lawyer, Amy Jeffress, had said the "media frenzy is not helpful" and that Mrs Sacoolas had received "abusive messages" over the case. Anne Sacoolas, who crashed into Harry Dunn on August 27 and then left the country Mr Seiger also said the apology from Mrs Sacoolas was "not worth the paper it was written on" and reiterated his view that the family's position on the suspect returning to the UK is non-negotiable and has been from the start. "I said before we go any further, it's important you understand that our position on Mrs Sacoolas returning to the UK is non-negotiable,” he said. Mrs Charles, ahead of the White House meeting, said: “We are grateful for the invitation, which we hope represents a positive development in our fight for justice." She said she hoped the meeting would help convince the US officials to send Mrs Sacoolas to the UK for questioning. “Friends tell each other the truth," she said. "If
Britain and America are friends then we believe there should be no possibility of a citizen of one country hiding from justice in another while falsely claiming a privilege such as diplomatic immunity.” Mr Dunn, asked at a New York press conference on Monday what he would say to Mr Trump, replied: “I would say to him as a man, as a father, see how it is. How could you let this happen? Surely you'd want that person to own up and take responsibility for their actions. That's all we want.” Harry Dunn was killed on August 27 by Anne Sacoolas, driving her car on the wrong side of the road It was unclear whether Ms Charles and Mr Dunn would be meeting Mr Trump while at the White House. The US president has previously addressed the controversy, calling Mr Dunn's death a "terrible accident" and confirmed his administration would seek to speak to Mrs Sacoolas. "The woman was driving on the wrong side of the road, and that can happen,” he said last week. "You know, those are the opposite roads, that happens. I won't say it ever happened to me, but it did. "So a young man was killed, the person that was driving the automobile has diplomatic immunity, we're going to speak to her very shortly and see if we can do something where they meet." As he was speaking he was holding a note, caught on camera, which confirmed the US would not send Mrs Sacoolas back to the UK for questioning. It read: "(If raised) Note, as Secretary Pompeo told Foreign Secretary Raab, that the spouse of the US government employee will not return to the United Kingdom."