This isn't good. U.S. Ambassador's wife leaves U.K. after becoming suspect in fatal road crash.UPDATED with original local article.

"Svend" (svend) 10/05/2019 at 08:12 • Filed to: None

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Harry Dunn died in the incident near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27.

The 19-year-old was riding his motorbike when a woman emerged from the airbase on the wrong side of road and there was a head-on collision, it was reported. He later died in hospital.

Northamptonshire Police met with the suspect, who is the wife of a US diplomat and who claimed immunity* , Sky News reported. The legal protection also covers dependents of diplomats.

*just to note, of the several articles, it is just Sky News that is saying she claimed immunity while others state she told the police she wouldn’t be leaving the U.K. any time soon.

Emphasis mine.

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The wife of an American diplomat has left the UK after being made a suspect in an investigation into a fatal crash.

Harry Dunn, 19, of Charlton, Banbury, was killed when his motorbike crashed with a car near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August.

Police said they wanted to interview an American woman in her 40s.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had called the US Ambassador to express his “disappointment” she had left the country.

Supt Sarah Johnson said: “Northamptonshire Police followed all of its usual procedures following the incident, including liaising closely with the suspect, who engaged fully with us at the time and had previously confirmed to us that she had no plans to leave the country in the near future.

“The force is now exploring all opportunities through diplomatic channels to ensure that the investigation continues to progress.

“Harry Dunn’s family deserve justice and in order to achieve this, a full and thorough investigation, with the assistance of all parties involved, needs to take place.”

RAF Croughton is a United States Air Force communications station.

Harry’s mother Charlotte Charles told Sky News: “Everyone loved him, we’re utterly broken inside and out, everything hurts day and night, it’s an effort to do anything, I ache from it, every limb, every internal organ hurts.

“We don’t know how we can start to grieve for him.”

Mr Raab said: “I have called the US Ambassador to express the UK’s disappointment with their decision, and to urge the Embassy to re-consider it.”

The US Embassy in London said: “Embassy officials are in close contact with the appropriate British officials on this matter.

“Due to security and privacy considerations, we cannot confirm the identity of the individuals involved, but we can confirm the family has left the UK.”

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The wife of a US diplomat reportedly claimed immunity and left the UK after being involved in a fatal road accident.

Harry Dunn died in the incident near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27.The 19-year-old was riding his motorbike when a woman emerged from the airbase on the wrong side of road and there was a head-on collision, it was reported. He later died in hospital. Northamptonshire Police met with the suspect, who is the wife of a US diplomat and who claimed immunity, Sky News reported. The legal protection also covers dependents of diplomats. Police applied for a waiver of the immunity to pursue the case, but their request was rejected and they were told she had left the country, the broadcaster reported, quoting Superintendent Sarah Johnson from Northamptonshire Police.Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said he was disappointed by the US decision. “I wish to offer my condolences to the family affected by this tragic incident,” he told Sky News.“I have called the US Ambassador to express the UK’s disappointment with their decision, and to urge the Embassy to re-consider it.”Mr Dunn’s family said they were “disgusted” by the outcome. “We’re disgusted, appalled, how she could be having this cloak wrapped around her,” his father Tim told Sky News. “I’m angry that someone could do this and then get on a plane and go.“We don’t know how we can start to grieve for him,” his mother Charlotte Charles added. “We have nothing. No justice. We have nothing to put our minds at rest that she’s even remorseful.”Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, wrote to the family expressing “profound sadness” at the death, according to Sky News. The embassy said in a statement to the broadcaster: “We express our deepest sympathies and offer condolences to the family of the deceased in the tragic August 27 traffic accident involving a vehicle driven by the spouse of a US diplomat assigned to the United Kingdom.”

Local paper article from two days after the incident.

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A motorcyclist died in an accident in south Northamptonshire following a collision with a car.

Detectives in Northamptonshire Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are now appealing for witnesses of the accident, which happened on the B4031 Park End in Croughton.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: “The incident happened at about 8.30pm yesterday, Tuesday, August 27, between RAF Croughton and the village of Croughton, when a black Volvo XC90 driving towards the village collided head on with a black Kawasaki motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction.

“The rider of the Kawasaki was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital where he died a short time later,” he adde d.

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Just Jeepin' > Svend 10/05/2019 at 08:31

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Ugh. Terrible all around. 

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Svend 10/05/2019 at 08:40

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welp...im pretty sure the us is a non extradition country... so she got away scot free

for some reason we still give them the people they want even tho its a one way street

pip bip - choose Corrour > Svend 10/05/2019 at 08:41

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sad

Svend > Just Jeepin' 10/05/2019 at 08:45

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I t’s made all the worse by leaving the country.

The family don’t get any answers and only fosters anger and resentment. 

jimz > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 10/05/2019 at 08:49

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not true, we have extradition treaties with a lot of countries, UK included.  It might get stickier in this case where the UK wants a US citizen back for investigation, but nothing I could find said that it was impossible.  Only a relative handful of countries (e.g. China) absolutely refuse to allow extradition of one of their own citizens.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Svend 10/05/2019 at 08:52

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Wow....what a b****, pardon the language. Looking pretty guilty of killing somebody when you specifically claim immunity and leave the country...

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > jimz 10/05/2019 at 08:53

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sorry i didnt mean that literally....i just cant recall the us ever actually sending a citizen back

Svend > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 10/05/2019 at 08:59

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Well, when it comes to extradit ion between the U.K., E.U. and U.S. it becomes a clusterfuck.

I don’t think it’ll come to extradition proceedings. Right now, everyone wants to establish just what happened and why. 

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:02

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welp... as she fucked off im going to assume shes at fault

Svend > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/05/2019 at 09:03

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True, though I emphasised above it was only Sky News saying she claimed immunity.

But she did state she wasn’t going to be leaving the country any time soon, and then, they go.

It’s just, nobody knows just what happened. 

Svend > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/05/2019 at 09:05

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The police and family, just want to know what happened.

Okay there will undoubtedly be legal proceedings later, but right now, people want answers and anything now isn’t going to be believed by the family of the deceased, purely because she left the country. 

Cé hé sin > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:08

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There may have been grounds for prosecution had she not fled the country (Georgia was once persuaded to waive immunity for an official in a case like this in the US due to public pressure ) but with her gone and with the Americans in the driving seat as it were it’s unlikely they will do anything. The idea of sending one of their own b ack somewhere else won’t wear well with many Americans.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:10

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as you say, she is covered by immunity, Boris needs to lean on Trump and get her back there

Svend > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 10/05/2019 at 09:10

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It was stated that she was on the wrong side of the road.

But was she on that side to avoid something on her side of the road, a momentary lapse of memory for where she was, etc...

She would of been breathalysed at the scene as it’s standard practice in any RTC. But impaired from other substances, eg medication, etc... wouldn’t of been ruled out at the scene unless they had reason to believe she was, eg mannerisms, speech, etc... after the breathalyser test. 

Svend > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/05/2019 at 09:14

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Nobody is going to get anywhere with trump and the U.S. is unlikely to hand over one of their own citizens, especially a family member of a diplomat or that of the diplomatic staff. Especially for an RTC, it would set a bad precedent for all diplomats the world over. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:17

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Ah, so rry, did miss that part...but the fact she’s involved in an investigation that involves somebody’s death and she leaves the country doesn’t bode well for her innocence ...

pip bip - choose Corrour > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:18

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she was probably drunk

Svend > Cé hé sin 10/05/2019 at 09:20

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Exactly. So unless she comes back of her own free will, which I doubt, it’ll be forgotten about while the police keep filing reports to the Home Office, who will randomly send them to their U.S. colleagues to show they’ve done something, yadda yadda yadda. 

Svend > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/05/2019 at 09:22

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No, it really doesn’t.

It makes her look all the more guilty. 

Svend > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/05/2019 at 09:25

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Highly unlikely. It’s standard practice here in the U.K. to breathalyse all drivers of an RTC, even if it isn’t suspected anyone is under the influence of alcohol.

It’s so at court the police can state whether anyone did have alcohol or not.

If she was, she’d of been arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and would pursue a case as such and even death by dangerous driving. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:25

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All the worse, I imagine she’ll get off scot free and that poor kid’s family will get no closure and have lost their boy...

Svend > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/05/2019 at 09:28

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Ye’, especially a 19 year old .

Milky > Svend 10/05/2019 at 09:45

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Why isn’t her name everywhere in these articles?  If she doesn’t go back never let her forget. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Svend 10/05/2019 at 10:10

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Fuck that bitch

average user > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/05/2019 at 10:10

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Some commenters already said the U.K. test all drivers on the scene. So probably not drunk. I think she was confused though if she has not been in the U.K. long and momentarily forgot the traffic rules. 

Svend > Milky 10/05/2019 at 10:13

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It doesn’t taste whether it’s the U.K. or U.S. saying this but.

“Due to security and privacy considerations, we cannot confirm the identity of the individuals involved, but we can confirm the family has left the UK.”

Possibly in part because R.A.F. Croughton is home to the 42 2nd Air Base Group , apparently a thi r d of all European U.S. comms comes through it.

So it may be a little sensitive to have people know who’s visiting such a place. 

EastFumBuck > Svend 10/05/2019 at 11:45

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It’s easy to lose sight of reality in everyone’s outrage here over this and it’s worth reminding what that reality is:

- It’s international law, codified by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 which almost every country is a signatory to.

- It is VERY rare for a country to waive immunity for one of its diplomats and if done, its only for cases of serious crime.

- The person can not waive their own immunity , even if they wanted to. Only their government has this power.

- Depending on the crime, the person can sometimes be put on trial by their own government.

Vehicular manslaughter is pretty much at the bottom of the list when it comes to waiving immunity.

These kind of things happen all the time around the world. There’s a parallel system of operating that most of us aren’t privy to. This is just the way it works and it’s not going to change. For good reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_immunity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Diplomatic_Relations

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 10/05/2019 at 11:47

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Generally, if the offense is also a crime in the home country, and the host country’s penalties are broadly similar, extradition should be allowed. Obviously, if a gay diplomat was wanted by Iran for homosexuality, it wouldn’t happen, but for a car accident in a country that also uses Common Law, maybe? If enough pressure is brought to it.

Alternatively, not that long ago, Germany refused to extradite one of their diplomats back to Russia after a fatal crash in Moscow, but agreed to try him domestically instead, though the Russians were not happy with the outcome. 

average user > Svend 10/05/2019 at 11:49

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She might not want to leave but the someone who outranks her husband might have ordered it. Even if she want to stay and clear her name, the embassy might think getting her out of the country might be best considering the popular anti American sentiment. The higher ups probably think of this goes on trial she might become a proxy target for people who hate 45. 

kanadanmajava1 > Milky 10/05/2019 at 12:10

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The yellow press is likely doing everything they can do to dig out her name. I’m pretty sure that they’ll succeed in couple of days .

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 10/05/2019 at 12:22

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I bet if she would have stayed, nothing would have really happened to her... Fleeing the scene on a vehicular homicide is scorned even more than simply being involved ... Pending the lack of intoxication.

facw > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/05/2019 at 12:46

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Maybe not. That driving on the opposite side of the road thing can sneak up on people (still should have seen the bike of course). My mother got pulled over for driving on the left shortly after returning from seven years in the UK, and she definitely hadn’t been drinking (though she was tired) .

facw > Svend 10/05/2019 at 12:52

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Not good indeed. They can ask the US to waive diplomatic immunity and extradite her, but the US is extremely unlikely to do that. Probably wouldn’t make a difference regardless, but the UK is in a much weaker position to ask for that due to Brexit.

I suspect the only consequence she suffers is not being able to travel to the UK (at least until the statute of limitations passes, if the UK has those).

Milky > Svend 10/05/2019 at 13:17

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Well that’s a shit reason, but I guess it’s a reason. 

fintail > Svend 10/05/2019 at 13:21

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Disgusting. The excuse to not name her is also tenuous at best.  This is definitely be a case where an action should not be “forgotten”.  I hope someone outs her.

Spanfeller is a twat > Svend 10/05/2019 at 14:42

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Let’s be honest... yes, she commited a crime, but if she had stayed in the UK and faced a trial... would something have changed? Involuntary vehicular manslaughter doesn’t end in a prison sentence all the time... Specially if she wasn’t drunk... Assuming the UK is as lenient with foreign diplomats driving as any other country is... chances are she didn’t have to go through any particular training in order to drive in the UK... in which case, it’s not really her fault as much as the Vienna convention and the State Department’s fault.

If anything, I can absolutely imagine the American State department suggesting that she leaves, as to avoid the political pressure/ conflict of interest that this kind of case would put on the UK legal system.

I know it’s not a very satisfying result... But these aren’t regular people and because of that... they will face different consequences. Persecuting someone with diplomatic ties to any nation is very difficult because there’s always the possibility of creating a conflict of interest that will sway the diplomatic relationship no matter how independent and serious the judiciary system is. 

Svend > average user 10/05/2019 at 15:31

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Ye’, there isn’t anti-American sentiment (so much that there is anti-government, the world over), there is a lot of anti-trump. But by leaving it has put it more into trumps sp h ere and then the anti-trumpers might jump on it. Where as before she left it could of been more, ‘foreign national drive on wrong side of road, kills young man, family devastated’.   

Svend > EastFumBuck 10/05/2019 at 15:33

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It’s still shitty when it happens, and can’t blame anyone for being angry  when it does.

Svend > Spanfeller is a twat 10/05/2019 at 15:34

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As I said to someone else.

It’s still shitty when it happens, and can’t blame anyone for being angry when it does.

Svend > facw 10/05/2019 at 15:38

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Brexit doesn’t come into this.

It’s an awful thing that’s happened and made all the worse with what has followed. 

Spanfeller is a twat > Svend 10/05/2019 at 15:48

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I agree...  

M.T. Blake > Svend 10/05/2019 at 16:48

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Well if he hadn’t be on the WRONG side of the road... wait. If she hadn’t been driving on the RIGHT side of the road... Right? Left right? Right right? She shouldn’t have been on the right side of the road! Left right?! Jeebus!!!!

Truly sad. Not uncommon for those with diplomatic immunity to face nothing... sad. 

AdverseMartyr > average user 10/06/2019 at 00:01

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It is quite possibly true that she had no intentions to leave, and some US policy came into play.

EastFumBuck > Svend 10/06/2019 at 03:45

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Certainly. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Svend 10/07/2019 at 12:47

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Hey,

One of my colleagues had a full bottle of whiskey break and empty into their new CX-5 Signature. Any suggestions for special cleaning or just typical de-oderize, shampoo, leather conditioner?

Svend > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 10/07/2019 at 14:55

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Give that a go in the first instance and see how it goes. The earlier you can clean it, then hopefully you can catch it before it really soaks in.

If after a few days the odour is still present, you may have to go for an odour bomb and all the follow up interior cleaning of all the surfaces. 

kanadanmajava1 > Svend 10/07/2019 at 15:23

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Ok. The press has done their job. It took around 2 days. The idiot’s name is Anne Sacoolas.

Svend > kanadanmajava1 10/07/2019 at 15:42

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Yep. More details have emerged as well. Turns out there is camera footage of her leaving the base on the wrong side of the road, she has admitted what happened, invoked immunity. police have asked for it to be waived. U.S. said no, saying they rarely waiver immunity. The lawyer for the deceased’s family is an American and said that isn’t the case and that the U.K. often lifts immunity for the U.S. so it’s be hypocritical if the U.S. doesn’t do the same.

She lived with her husband nearby and had only been in the U.K. three weeks at that point.

Apparently she was ‘encouraged to leave’ by someone on the U.S. side.

Our PM has said if necessary he’ll take it to the White House.

I guess we’ll see just how this ‘special relationship’ our countries keep touting pays off.

kanadanmajava1 > Svend 10/07/2019 at 16:20

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The idiot might avoid jail if she really want to do so. Some politics might still reverse the situation. But in any I’m pretty sure that her happy family life is gone. Especially now that the press has found out her name . According to one source her eldest son was in the car when the accident happened so she couldn’t even hide the crash from the children.

But the idea to escape might have not been only hers. Dailymail quote: “ It was then that they found out that ‘someone at the us embassy’ advised her and her family to return to the US. ”

I’m pretty sur e panicked people might accept easily stupid advises . Go away and everyone will soon forget the accident. Now that her identity has been found out their life must be pretty difficult. So this might even be more painful way to live with your regrets.

Svend > kanadanmajava1 10/07/2019 at 16:37

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It’s all a clusterfuck and our PM said it’s ridiculous that immunity is ring used for this reason.

Panicked maybe, but she's apparently worked for the state department herself (Though not known in what capacity) and I would hope have a bit of sense in her head.