The parents of car crash victim Harry Dunn are set to launch a judicial review into advice given by the UK Foreign Office to British police, over a decision granting diplomatic immunity to the wife of a US diplomat suspected of the teenager's death.
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Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger said in New York, where the families are hoping to get Anne Sacoolas to return to the UK over allegations she was behind the wheel when Harry Dunn was struck and killed in August.
Seiger says he and lawyer Mark Stephens will write to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office asking for all emails, messages and notes in relation to its advice to Northamptonshire Police regarding the suspect's diplomatic unity.
"What we don't know is whether somebody cocked up or whether they were put under pressure by the Americans to concede," Seiger told the PA news agency on Monday.
"But we want to conduct an investigation into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's decision to advise Northamptonshire Police that this lady had the benefit of diplomatic immunity.
"If we're not satisfied, then we'll go to a judicial review and ask a High Court judge to review it all."
Harry Dunn, 19, was was killed in August when his motorcycle collided with a car allegedly driven by Sacoolas outside a British air force base in southern England used by the US military.
His family have taken their case directly to US audiences, holding a New York news conference at which they urged the woman to return to Britain.
His parents have reached out to US politicians and plan to be in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday in their quest to get Sacoolas back to the UK "to present herself to police," Seiger said.
If that occurs, the family indicated, it would be willing to speak with her there.
Charlotte Charles, Dunn's mother, tearfully urged the diplomat's wife to "do the right thing" and to "face us as a broken family," along with the UK legal system.
"She needs to set an example to her own children that you can't run away," Charles said.
Sacoolas left Britain shortly after the accident, although police in the area where the collision happened released a statement saying she had previously told them she had no plans to depart. Her current whereabouts are uncertain.
A statement previously released on Sacoolas' behalf said she spoke with authorities at the scene of the accident and again the following day and would continue to cooperate with them.
"Anne is devastated by this tragic accident. No loss compares to the death of a child and Anne extends her deepest sympathy to Harry Dunn's family," the statement said.
The US Embassy in London said any question of waiving the immunity given to diplomats and their families would be carefully considered but that it was rare to have that happen.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Sacoolas to return to the UK and that he doesn't think it's right to "use the process of diplomatic immunity for this type of purpose".
British media have reported that UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that "immunity is no longer pertinent" because Sacoolas has left the country.
President Donald Trump last week called what happened "a terrible accident" and said his administration would seek to speak with the driver "and see what we can come up with".
He noted that the British drive on the left side of the road, while in the United States, people drive on the right and "the woman was driving on the wrong side of the road".
Australian Associated Press