Claim husband of Anne Sacoolas wasn’t diplomat are disputed

The Foreign Office has disputed claims that the husband of an American woman granted diplomatic immunity following a car crash that killed a British teenager was not a registered diplomat.

Lawyer Mark Stephens had told Sky News that Jonathan Sacoolas, whose wife Anne flew to the US after the fatal crash, was not on the published list of accredited diplomats in the UK.

But the Foreign Office has insisted that Mr Sacoolas is an accredited diplomat in the eyes of the British government and his wife entitled to diplomatic immunity.

Mrs Sacoolas, 42, left the UK not long after the death of Harry Dunn, 19, which police believe happened when she pulled out on to the wrong side of the road as she emerged from Northamptonshire’s RAF Croughton on 27 August.

Sky News has been told protections granted by the Vienna Convention, which is enshrined in international law, were extended to the RAF base in the 1990s and it is regarded by the UK as an annex to the US Embassy in London.

Asked about any bilateral arrangements protecting US intelligence operatives from prosecution, the Foreign Office said it could not comment on intelligence matters.

It added that the list of diplomats published on the government website is not a comprehensive list and only covers diplomatic staff based in London.

Mr Stephens, an international lawyer, had earlier told Sky News that details confirmed to him by the Foreign Office had suggested that Mr Sacoolas should not have diplomatic immunity.

He said he may have instead been protected by a bilateral agreement between the UK and US, affording certain protections to American intelligence operatives in the UK and the bases they work in.

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That would have been different to the immunity granted by the Vienna Convention – a distinction Mr Stephens said would have meant the Foreign Office and police may have been wrong in allowing Mrs Sacoolas to leave.

Mr Stephens told Sky News: “There is a treaty between the two governments.

“That treaty though doesn’t bind Northamptonshire Police and it doesn’t bind the family of this poor boy who was deceased, and as a consequence of that they can apply for her extradition to come back to face manslaughter charges.”

Mr Stephens indicated that the family of Harry Dunn may also have had more options to pursue.

His parents told Sky News on Monday they want Mrs Sacoolas to return to the UK to apologise face-to-face.

Mr Stephens said: “Now she’s returned to the US, the family are entitled to sue her.

“This isn’t about money, this is about them understanding an explanation of how she came to kill their son, and I think the British government – if they’re not going to repatriate her – should actually be funding the family to sue in America so they can get the explanation they so richly deserve.”

When asked for comment, the US Embassy told Sky News it “has nothing at this time”.

(c) Sky News 2019: Claim husband of Anne Sacoolas wasn’t diplomat are disputed