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Andrea Leadsom calls for ‘virtual trial’ of US woman linked to Harry Dunn death

Harry Dunn died in a hit-and-run in August 2019: PA
Harry Dunn died in a hit-and-run in August 2019: PA

Harry Dunn’s MP today suggested a “virtual” court trial would allow his alleged killer to face British justice without leaving the US.

Andrea Leadsom has written to Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to propose a remote hearing for Anne Sacoolas, 42, who is charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a crash almost a year ago in which the 19-year-old died.

The former CIA intelligence officer claimed diplomatic immunity following the collision outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire and returned to the US.

In January the US refused to extradite her. The rules under which immunity was claimed have now changed.

Mrs Leadsom has also written to the Solicitor General, the Foreign Secretary, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Lord Chancellor to put forward the idea of a virtual trial or a trial in Sacoolas’s absence, with any sentence to be served in the US. Radd Seiger, the family’s spokesman, said the Dunns “would not object” to a remote trial.