The Foreign Secretary has raised the case of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn with US secretary of state Antony Blinken during the United Nations General Assembly.
The 19-year-old’s mother, Charlotte Charles, told the PA news agency she was “grateful” to Liz Truss, adding that it meant the world to his relatives to see tat “Harry remains at the top of the agenda”.
Mr Dunn was killed when a car crashed into his motorbike outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
Suspect Anne Sacoolas, 44, had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government and was able to leave the UK 19 days after the crash.
She was charged with causing Mr Dunn’s death by dangerous driving but an extradition request was rejected by the US State Department in January 2020.
Confirming the case had been raised by the Foreign Secretary, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “The Foreign Secretary… raised the case of Harry Dunn and the need to make progress on delivering justice for Harry’s family.”
The spokesman for the Dunn family, Radd Seiger, told PA a meeting had been arranged with Mrs Truss for later on Tuesday.
Giving her thoughts on the case being raised, Mrs Charles said: “I am so grateful that Liz Truss has raised Harry with Mr Blinken.
“It means the world to us to see that Harry remains at the top of the agenda.
“I can only imagine how busy the new Foreign Secretary is and Harry would be so proud that he is at the forefront of her mind in her first week in office.
“We continue to suffer, and miss Harry every single day.
“We feel we are just existing at the moment and I would just ask the officials in both London and Washington to do all they can to help my family get justice for Harry as soon as possible please.”
The previous foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced in June that the path had been cleared for a form of “virtual trial or process” to take place.
Speaking ahead of the meeting with Mrs Truss, Mr Seiger told PA: “We are grateful to Dominic Raab and the excellent officials at the FCDO for everything they have done in pressing the US government to reverse this denial of justice and I look forward to talking to Liz Truss later today to see where we are up to.
“Words are all well and good but it is high time that justice is now delivered. They will never be able to move on but it is more important now than ever for their mental health that they begin to move forward.”
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