UK lawmaker proposes virtual trial for US diplomat's wife who left Britain after accident

A British lawmaker has asked the government to hold a virtual trail for the wife of an American diplomat who left Britain after being involved in a road accident that killed a UK teenager. Becoming a reason for tensions between the US and the UK, Anne Sacoolas has claimed diplomatic immunity and the Americans have refused to extradite her to stand for the trial for the charges of dangerous driving that caused the death of 19-year-old motorcycle rider Harry Dunn. 

Sacoolas’ husband was an intelligence officer ar RAF Croughton, a military base in central England used by the United States forces. The accident has taken place near their house in England and Dunn’s family has been urging her return to face UK’s justice. The family of the 19-year-old even met with US President Donald Trump in Washington as part of their campaign. 

Meanwhile, according to reports, UK lawmaker Andrea Leadsom has written to Home Secretary Priti Patel on Monday proposing the idea of the virtual trial or a trial in absentia in a bid to “achieve closure...without undermining the U.S. decision not to accept the extradition request.”

“She could remain on U.S. soil, have a virtual trial with a U.K. court, and should there be a custodial sentence, she could serve it in the U.S. under the existing prisoner transfer agreement,” Leadsom wrote.

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Leadsom also wrote to solicitor general, other officials

Andrea Leadsom has reportedly also written to solicitor general, the foreign secretary and the Crown Prosecution Service. Dunn family’s spokesperson Radd Seiger also said that the family ‘would not object’ if a decision was taken to go ahead with a remote trial. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had rejected the request of extradition back in January and described the decision at the time as “final”. 

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The US state department in a statement said, “at the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the U.K., the driver, in this case, had a status that conferred diplomatic immunities”. They further expressed their deepest sympathies and further added that the decision to charge Sacoolas was not a helpful development. 

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(with AP inputs)

Image: representative/unsplash