‘If it had been done sooner it would have saved a life’: Signs reminding motorists to ‘drive on the left’ appear on the road where Harry Dunn, 19, was ‘killed by US diplomat’s wife’
- The markings have appeared by the RAF Croughton base in Northamptonshire
- Some said the signs are too little too late after Harry was killed in August
- Others said US drivers shouldn’t need reminding which lane to travel in
New road signs and markings have appeared outside the RAF base where teenager Harry Dunn was killed after being hit by a car driving on the wrong side of the road.
Arrows indicating the direction of travel have been painted on both sides of the road as well as a ‘please drive on left’ sign.
The markings have appeared by the RAF Croughton base in Northamptonshire where Harry Dunn was knocked down on his motorbike in August.
New road signs and markings have appeared outside the RAF base where teenager Harry Dunn was killed
Some local residents said it was ‘unbelievable’ drivers had to be reminded which lane to travel in, while others said the signs had come too late.
Ian Parkes said on Facebook: ‘Just a simple thing that had it been done sooner could have saved a life. It is so tragic and not the first time it’s happened outside a US base.’
Another local said: ‘It’s unbelievable, the idea that top intelligence officers can’t remember which side to drive on.’
The car which crashed into Harry was allegedly driven by the wife of a US diplomat, Anne Sacoolas and police said they had CCTV footage of her driving on the wrong side of the road.
After the crash, she returned to the US and claimed diplomatic immunity meaning she cannot be prosecuted in the UK.
But tonight, in a letter to Harry’s parents Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said she does not have this right since leaving the country.
The car which crashed into Harry (left) was allegedly driven by the wife of a US diplomat, Anne Sacoolas (right)
In the letter seen by Sky, Mr Raab says: ‘The UK government’s position is that immunity, and therefore any question of waiver, is no longer relevant in Mrs Sacoolas’ case, because she has returned home.
‘The US have now informed us that they too consider that immunity is no longer pertinent.
‘In these circumstances, Harry’s case is now a matter for Northants police and the CPS to take forward.’
The ‘excellent news’ according to Mr Dunn comes at the same time as legal discussions have opened between the two parties.
The 19-year-old victim’s parents, Charlotte Charles (pictured) and Tim Dunn, have now decided to take their fight to the US
Spokesman Radd Seiger (centre) said he has had a brief phone conversation with Sacoolas’s lawyers
A lawyer representing Sacoolas has made contact with representative of the family Radd Seiger, a former lawyer and family friend.
He told ITV News: ‘I have just landed on a flight from London and had a very brief phone conversation with the legal team representing Anne Sacoolas.
‘We have agreed to meet each other at the earliest possibility as soon as we can co-ordinate our diaries.’
It is understood to be the first contact between the two parties since Sacoolas left the UK after she was granted diplomatic immunity following the crash.
It raises hopes that a major row between the US and UK governments could be avoided.