Hopes dashed of new US President Joe Biden sending Harry Dunn 'killer' back to UK to face justice

The likelihood that new United States President Joe Biden will reverse the decision not to extradite Harry Dunn's alleged killer has taken a hit today (Thursday, January 28).

The American government has reiterated it will not force Anne Sacoolas to return to the UK to face justice for the fatal crash in Northamptonshire in 2019.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is understood to have spoken to new Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the issue to no avail.

Harry's family said they were not surprised by the statement but will not stop their campaign and have faith in their appeals to the new president.

His mother, Charlotte Charles, from Charlton, said: "I maintain my direct appeal to President Biden and his new Secretary of State Tony Blinken to do the right thing. It is the only way forward."

State Department spokesman Ned Price said: "The United States government has declined the United Kingdom's request for extradition of a US citizen involved in a tragic vehicle accident that occurred in the United Kingdom.

"Our decision in that regard was final. At the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the UK, the US citizen driver in this case had immunity from criminal jurisdiction."

Harry, 19, died after a head-on crash between his motorcycle and Sacoolas' car, which was on the wrong side of the road, near Croughton on August 27, 2019.

The American woman claimed diplomatic immunity the next day using a loophole in the waiver agreement for US service personnel at RAF Croughton and left the UK for home a few weeks later.

The US government rejected an extradition request from the Home Office in January 2020 after Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Throughout, Harry's family has been campaigning for Sacoolas to come back, meeting then-President Donald Trump in the Oval Office during a visit to the US in November 2019.

Mrs Charles repeated her appeal to President Biden to support the family's call for justice on Lorraine on ITV this morning.

"We hope he is a president with a lot more heart and clearly can sympathise... we just hope to goodness he sticks to his word," she told host Lorraine Kelly, wiping tears from her eyes.

"He believes in the rule of law, upholding the rule of law, he believes that nobody is above the law no matter who you are or what you do.

"I'm pleading with him to stick to those words and to do the right thing and make sure Anne Sacoolas faces the UK justice system."

The family hope President Biden's own experience of losing his one-year-old daughter Amy and then-wife Neilia in a car crash in 1972 may help him to empathise with their situation more than the previous administration.

Mrs Charles said on Lorraine: "We are very hopeful. Radd [Seiger], our spokesperson, bless him, has been continuing to have talks with senior officials both in London and in Washington.

"Those talks are picking up momentum and we do hold out a lot of hope, we are feeling quite positive."