The parents of teenager Harry Dunn have chosen not to meet the
American woman involved in the crash which killed their 19-year-old son.
The unexpected offer came at a
White House meeting with
Donald Trump where they pressed the US President over the diplomatic immunity given to the main suspect.
Anne Sacoolas left the
UK after the crash in Northamptonshire which killed Harry. At the meeting, Trump reportedly told them that she would not return to the UK.
Harry’s parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, said they turned down the offer to meet Sacoolas as there were no mediators or counsellors in the room.
Dunn said “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.”
But he added that the meeting “didn’t feel like a stunt – they didn’t try and force it onto us”.
Charles added: “But I don’t think it would be appropriate to meet her without therapists or mediators in the room.”
The family’s campaign has attracted interest either side of the Atlantic due to the chief suspect being the wife of a US diplomat stationed in the UK.
Sacoolas has previously said she is “terribly sorry” about the incident and that she had “no time to react” when she saw Dunn’s motorbike following the incident near RAF Croughton on August 27.Harry’s parents said after their meeting with the US leader that there had been “a little bit of progress”.
Charles said: “We didn’t get the answers that we wanted.
“They couldn’t tell us who made the decision to bring her back to the US.
“We asked how long she was there for and they still said three weeks.”
When asked if she felt the meeting was trying to sweep Harry’s death under the carpet, Charles said: “Initially yes I did think they were trying to do that – certainly by having Mrs Sacoolas there.
“I think maybe they were thinking that would be enough for us.
“We’re seven weeks on and it’s just not enough.”
The family, who met Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in the UK last week, have also demanded an investigation over the Foreign Office’s advice to Northamptonshire Police that Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity.
They are demanding to see all emails, messages and notes sent in relation to her immunity status.Related... White House Requests ‘Urgent Meeting’ With Family Of Harry Dunn Harry Dunn's Family To Launch Judicial Review Into Government's Advice Over Suspect's Immunity Harry Dunn’s Parents Say They Can’t Grieve Until Crash Suspect Is Returned To The UK