02-07-2025
Harry Dunn's family raise concerns Foreign Office will ‘hide' final report after investigation
The family of Harry Dunn have expressed concerns that the Foreign Office will attempt to 'hide' the final report from a parliamentary review into the case following an 11th-hour invitation to meet the foreign secretary.
Harry's mother Charlotte Charles is due to meet David Lammy with other family members on Wednesday following an invitation for him to 'hear the family's views and concerns'.
The review is not set to scrutinise the role or actions of the US government but will examine the support the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) offered the Dunn family.
The 19-year-old died on 27 August 2019 when his motorbike was hit by a car driven by a former US state department employee, outside the American military base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
Anne Sacoolas, 45, eventually pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
Dunn family spokesman Radd Seiger told FCDO officials they were concerned there was 'no explicit provision for the publication of the final report' in the review's proposed terms of reference.
His words prompted an invitation to meet with Mr Lammy on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the review's official announcement.
Mrs Charles said she was 'apprehensive' ahead of the meeting, adding: 'I won't accept anything less than a full, open and transparent process.'
She added: 'After everything we've been through, the idea that the government might try to hide Anne Owers' report fills me with dread.
"Why did we get shunned, why did we get pushed down the road, why didn't they want to speak to us?" she told ITV News.
"We need to have reassurances that the next family will get treated an awful lot better than we did," she added.
The meeting comes just days after a report said the disgraced ex-chief constable of Northamptonshire Police had a 'detrimental' impact on the investigation – including making erroneous media statements and causing a breakdown in relations with his family,
The report said Nick Adderley, who was sacked in June last year after lying about serving in the Falklands War, was reprimanded by the Foreign Office for making inaccurate comments about Ms Sacoolas's immunity status after she had left the UK.
Ahead of the meeting on Wednesday, Mr Seiger said: "It is not lost on us that the only reason we appear to have been called in is because we asked for only one basic and reasonable assurance – that Anne Owers' report will be published.
'That request appears to have put the cat among the pigeons ahead of the government formally announcing the inquiry tomorrow.
'The fact that it has prompted such an urgent response gives us real concern that publication of the report may not have been the government's intention.'
Mr Seiger continued: 'Although we will not get ahead of ourselves, if that proves to be the case, I can say categorically on behalf of the family that we will have no part in any process that lacks transparency.
'It must follow that Anne Owers' report, the first and only detailed look into those failures must be published. Without that, we cannot move forward."
In a statement, the FCDO said: 'The Foreign Secretary has always made clear his commitment to support Harry Dunn's family and learn lessons from this tragedy.
'It is right we brief the family first on any developments and will announce further details in due course.'
