UK - US Diplomat's wife leaves UK after killing Harry Dunn, age 19, Northampton, Sept 2019 *suspended sentence*

[Satchie]

There are a lot of accidents that occur on UK roads due to the non-UK driver forgetting and driving on the right instead of the left. The woman didn't kill this young man intentionally and she seemed willing to help police in the enquiry. Clearly, the State Department didn't want that.

I wonder if the issue for the US was not wanting any publicity about her husband's identity, since he was working there as some sort of spy.

That, and American entitlement, of course.

The strategy backfired and now they've got a front page international story instead of a back page local one.

 

[Satchie]

What exactly is she doing? Who is giving her advice? Rich or poor, how could she be more stupid than she has been?

RSBM. She's not making the decisions here, diplomatic immunity was asserted by the US State Department, no doubt under the direction of US Intelligence.

ETA, these people don't care a fig about her or the dead man or his parents, they care about what they call the US National Interest.

 

[Lilibet]

RSBM. She's not making the decisions here, diplomatic immunity was asserted by the US State Department, no doubt under the direction of US Intelligence.

ETA, these people don't care a fig about her or the dead man or his parents, they care about what they call the US National Interest.

And unfortunately, we no longer know who is making decisions and for whose interests anymore. National interest is personal interest. Chaos and personal attorneys reign...and Nero fiddles while families grieve.
JMO

 

[Suglo]

RSBM. She's not making the decisions here, diplomatic immunity was asserted by the US State Department, no doubt under the direction of US Intelligence.

ETA, these people don't care a fig about her or the dead man or his parents, they care about what they call the US National Interest.

Exactly. I’ve thought this from the very beginning. I don’t think she had or has any say in whether she faces justice in the UK. The US government is calling the shots. Her husband must be an important asset to them.

 

[Taskforce88]

I wonder if the issue for the US was not wanting any publicity about her husband's identity, since he was working there as some sort of spy.

That, and American entitlement, of course.

The strategy backfired and now they've got a front page international story instead of a back page local one.

The family said themselves they would be happy if she got a suspended sentence so that she could continue being a mum.

If anything this has drawn far more attention to her husband than they would have liked if they were indeed doing this to prevent publicity.

 

[Mrs Marple]

Harry Dunn: Foreign Office sought delay in informing family that suspect had left UK

'Foreign Office officials asked Northamptonshire police to delay telling Harry Dunn's family the woman responsible for his death had left the UK, Dominic Raab has admitted.

Mr Dunn was riding his motorbike when he was killed in a collision involving Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US diplomat, outside an RAF base in Northamptonshire on 27 August.

Officers were told she had left the country on September 16, but the 19-year-old's family say they were not informed by police until 10 days later.'

 

[Elainera]

Exactly. I’ve thought this from the very beginning. I don’t think she had or has any say in whether she faces justice in the UK. The US government is calling the shots. Her husband must be an important asset to them.

bbm

It really looks like it doesn't it? But how is this even possible? Why does she comply with the advice/demand of the US government? How can/could they prevent her to return to the UK if she decided to do so?

Or, maybe she really did change her mind after learning that Harry Dunn died and is glad for the protection she is getting.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

The family said themselves they would be happy if she got a suspended sentence so that she could continue being a mum.

I think that sentence speaks volumes about the Dunns.

Funny isn't it. We have the Connors getting busted crossing a border and getting locked up by America for a fortnight. And we have Mrs Sacoolas killing a child and America doing everything they can to get her off the hook. The irony is maddening.

 

[Satchie]

bbm

It really looks like it doesn't it? But how is this even possible? Why does she comply with the advice/demand of the US government? How can/could they prevent her to return to the UK if she decided to do so?

Or, maybe she really did change her mind after learning that Harry Dunn died and is glad for the protection she is getting.

I think that when you're married to a US 'diplomat' spy, you both do what his handlers tell you to do. You're not free, any more than an internationally-posted military family is free to live where they want, you go where you're posted.

 

[mickey2942]

I think that when you're married to a US 'diplomat' spy, you both do what his handlers tell you to do. You're not free, any more than an internationally-posted military family is free to live where they want, you go where you're posted.

That is very true. And probably this incident killed her husband's career. He is probably going to be a bean counter now, in some cubbyhole in DC, or more likely, Topeka.

 

[Enola]

UK minister officially confirms what we already knew...

Mr Raab said the US Embassy informed his office of the crash and said Mrs Sacoolas was "covered by immunity".

The Foreign Office requested to waive her immunity "to enable the police investigation to follow its proper course", he told MPs.

But Mr Raab said on 13 September his office was told by the US "that they would not waive immunity and that the individual would be leaving the country imminently, unless the UK had strong objections".

He said his office "duly and immediately objected in clear and strong terms" but when they spoke to US officials on 16 September they were told Mrs Sacoolas had left the UK the day before.

Government knew Harry Dunn suspect would leave UK

 

[Mrs Marple]

Harry Dunn: British police to interview suspect Anne Sacoolas under caution in US

"The suspect cooperated with police at the scene and spoke with authorities there. Officers attended the home address of the suspect next day (28 August), and again she fully cooperated."

 

[FrostOwl]

I would hope that world leaders have better things to do than meddle in a traffic incident, but apparently not.

It should be so cut and dried based on law. The woman does not have any diplomatic immunity. She killed a man in the UK and then fled the country. The President of the United States has one role: uphold the law.

Strange to see his decision to protect a woman who is violating the law.

Do remember that this is a man who tried to meddle with the case of an U.S. rapper who was arrested for assault in Sweden. GUILTY - Sweden - Rapper A$AP Rocky charged with Assault following altercation, Stockholm, 2 July 2019 It seems as if an American breaks the law in Europe, Trump doesn't think they should be paying for their crimes.

 

[mickey2942]

UK authorities could have easily put a lock on her exit from UK. They didn't.

 

[Satchie]

UK authorities could have easily put a lock on her exit from UK. They didn't.

I think that's true, that the UK is trying to dodge the doodoo being flung around, by pretending they were powerless. But IMO they didn't want to create a 'diplomatic incident' by arresting her.

IMO barreling along the wrong side of the road is caused by distracted, and therefore dangerous driving. It's understandable that accidents happen when people have to turn, in busy traffic, and get mixed up about which lane to turn into. But this was a traffic-free, straightforward situation, apparently. The steering wheel alone tells you to get in the other lane, so that you're steering from the middle of the road and not the verge. She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, IMO.

 

[Enola]

You think that UK police should have demanded entrance to a US military base? Or that our forces should have caused a massive military incident by intercepting and forcing down a private flight from a US base that has special immunity? All of this rather than have the US government waive its position and the US citizen in question have the decency to deal with the consequences of killing a young man...

Blame the victim, much?

 

[Lilibet]

UK authorities could have easily put a lock on her exit from UK. They didn't.

I think that's true, that the UK is trying to dodge the doodoo being flung around, by pretending they were powerless. But IMO they didn't want to create a 'diplomatic incident' by arresting her.

I think a close ally of the US like the UK is not going to use whatever “power” they might have in a situation like this. They pick their battles carefully and likely would hope that the US would cooperate willingly. Unfortunately, the US government knows that the UK government is not going to stand up and force the immunity issue and create an international incident over this situation. So the US government feels free to do what it wants, never mind human decency. And for all we know, Rudy Giuliani was calling the shots. /sarcasm

The “only” thing the UK did wrong is try to hide this from Harry Dunn’s parents IMO. Not good.

 

[Littlegreenlady]

A fatal crash and the problem of diplomatic immunity – podcast

I listened to this on my way to work this morning. Very interesting as it talks about the diplomatic status and goes into some information about how it has worked historically. At the end they note that sadly there are a lot of deals going on between the US and UK over a number of things. The UK could have challenged the US over the diplomatic immunity but chose not to and that ultimately they may have chosen to do so, in order not to cause further diplomatic incidents. It's only half an hour, would recommend it.

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

A fatal crash and the problem of diplomatic immunity – podcast

I listened to this on my way to work this morning. Very interesting as it talks about the diplomatic status and goes into some information about how it has worked historically. At the end they note that sadly there are a lot of deals going on between the US and UK over a number of things. The UK could have challenged the US over the diplomatic immunity but chose not to and that ultimately they may have chosen to do so, in order not to cause further diplomatic incidents. It's only half an hour, would recommend it.

Thanks for the link, will check it out on my lunch today.

 

[Taskforce88]

I see that the MoD police have had to step up patrols at the base due to vandalism directed at US personnel housing as a result of the ongoing case.

I wonder if the suspect is more than just an intel agents wife. Perhaps she is one and was involved in highly classified work there.