'Nothing will stop us getting justice,' say Harry Dunn's family
Charlotte Charles, the mother of teenager killed in a car crash, says she believes the US is using "scare tactics" against them.
Saturday 4 January 2020 19:49, UK
The mother of Harry Dunn has spoken of her renewed energy to pursue justice for her son as the family's supporters vowed to target US air bases in Britain with a series of protests this year.
Charlotte Charles told Sky News that the Christmas break had given all members of the family time to reflect on the extraordinary campaign they started in their Northamptonshire village in October - leading them to the Oval Office in Washington less than a fortnight later.
American driver Anne Sacoolas left the country after the car she was driving hit Harry Dunn outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August. Last month, she was charged by the CPS with death by dangerous driving.
She is still in the US having claimed diplomatic immunity shortly after the fatal accident.
An extradition process is under way but both the US State Department and Mrs Sacoolas' legal team have both indicated she will not willingly return to face charges.
Harry's mother Ms Charles told Sky News: "We really do feel that the vibes that have come out of Washington are just scare tactics and none of those scare tactics have worked before and they are not going to work now."
Harry's family have all taken some time away from the campaign over the Christmas break - their first without their son and brother.
Ms Charles added: "We have had nine or 10 days away... we have started our counselling and it's horrific and as painful as I thought it was going to be.
"You get the opportunity to really reflect on how far we have come.
"It has really helped us to understand that if we can do all that in the space of those weeks then there is no stopping us."
She explained that the new year has brought a renewed sense of optimism to carry out the promise they made to the teenager on the night that he died that they would see justice done.
"We are going to gain more strength and momentum to carry on moving forward," she added.
"Never once has that promise to Harry wavered or flattened or softened.
"Nothing will stop us."
About 100 friends and supporters temporarily blocked off the entrance to RAF Croughton on Saturday lunchtime to ask the US authorities to comply with the UK extradition process and to raise questions about how US citizens can commit crimes on British soil and then just leave the country.
The spokesperson for the Dunn family, Radd Seiger, who was at the demonstration, told Sky News: "If anybody in Washington thinks that anybody here is going to accept a position where it is OK for American service members to come over here and take a life and then get on the next flight home well they've got another thing coming to them.
"We don't want to do it but ultimately these [American] bases are posing a threat to us, not just in Northamptonshire, but right around the country.
"If necessary, because we feel under threat, we will close them down."