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Justice4Harry19
Harry Dunn died in hospital after his motorbike was involved in a crash outside RAF Croughton
The parents of Harry Dunn have said they are “livid” with Dominic Raab after he defended the government’s decision to seek legal costs from them.
The 19-year-old died after a collision in Northamptonshire in August that led to the suspect leaving the UK claiming diplomatic immunity.
The teenager’s parents have begun legal action against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Mr Raab said the government needed to “protect taxpayers’ money”.
The FCO said last month it would “seek costs” for any judicial review brought and argues the family has not found “any reasonably arguable ground of legal challenge”.
The foreign secretary told Sky News: “We just cannot responsibly allow ourselves to be sued without taking the normal action in defending ourselves when the position that the representative and the family are pursuing in law is wrong.”
He continued: “It pains me because I want to give them the solace of justice in this case.
“But we also need to protect the taxpayers’ money and the legal position that we set out, which is the correct one.”
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PA Media
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said that they had to protect taxpayer money by seeking legal costs from Harry Dunn’s family
Harry was fatally injured on 27 August, when his motorbike was in collision with a car owned by Anne Sacoolas, 42, outside RAF Croughton, where her husband Jonathan was an intelligence officer.
Mrs Sacoolas left the UK claiming diplomatic immunity, but was interviewed by Northamptonshire Police in the US last month and a file was then handed to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The family have begun the legal process of a judicial review of the immunity decision with the aim to have it quashed.
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PA Media
Radd Seiger (centre) said Harry Dunn’s parents Charlotte Charles (left) and Tim Dunn (right) were “entitled to answers and the truth”
Radd Seiger, the spokesman for the family of Harry Dunn, said they were “livid at the foreign secretary’s comments”.
He said: “They are not engaged in some frivolous vexatious litigation frolic of their own against the FCO.”
Mr Seiger added: “If he is so concerned about taxpayers’ money in the litigation then he would come and talk to us to find a resolution, rather than risking having to have the taxpayers themselves having to pay a very expensive legal bill if the FCO lose.”
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