To think this woman needs to return to the UK?

[Hazza000]

What do you all think of the case of the American woman claiming diplomatic immunity for running down and killing that young man Harry Dunn accidentally? She has now fled the uk claiming diplomatic immunity and left a devastated family behind facing a fight for justice?

I think it's ridiculous, pointless and cruel to imprison people responsible for genuine car accidents, ( I'm not talking about joyriding here), and cannot say I blame her for not returning

Your not a UK judge or magistrate are you?
Many traffic accidents causing death do not result in a prison sentence either, quite banail excuses will get the motorist off.

Though it would be interesting to see if you would still hold the same views if your son was killed by someone driving on the wrong side of the road or drove over your daughter as she walked on the pavement?

As for living with this lads death, she won't give a xxxx, got away quite literally with murder, if she were the sensitive type, she'd have stayed in the UK.

The UK as usual is America's poodle, about time we realised this, it's a one way abusive relationship.

No sure that any amount of money will change the core issue that the women will not be returning and the US will not make her and there is noting that anyone, the family, Johnson the Queen - anyone can do about this.

She should have stayed and in the wrong, but she is not coming back.

And does anyone believe our Government in the current state of affairs wants a show down the the US over this?

This woman is escaping justice because her President considers himself above the Law. It is an outrage.

I hate Trump with a passion, and he has as usual behaved disgracefully in relation to this matter. However, this clearly has nothing to do with him believing he is above the law: claiming diplomatic immunity is perfectly lawful, as is refusing to waive it.

Can I also point out that for all we know, she could have been on her phone as well as driving on the wrong side!

FIRST I would like to say sorry for your loss to Harrys family if they are reading this.
So sad I have a son the same age who rides a moterbike. I cannot possibly imagine the pain they are going through. I do think that the responsible driver should be brought to justice in the uk. Although I doubt it will happen. I think even if they raised millions it still won't happen. She is a free human in the US using diplomatic immunity. She should do the right thing though for harry and the other children in the car. I don't think she will though. She knows what happened and she took no responsibility for her actions.

DISGRACEFUL

I think the likely truth is that she was co-operating with British justice, as the local police have said, until the US decided they couldn't have that and whisked her away.

Rarely is it an accident. People need to know that they can do some serious damage with their ton and a half of metal.
Get in a car you are responsible, she killed someone and should be made to pay the cost.

@LoyaltyBonus. You said you think it would have been decent of her to meet with the family before leaving though, but you don't know if that would have been sufficient for them. Are you being serious. She has killed their precious son. What needs to happen is that she needs to get her cold hearted arse back over here and face the charges and the resulting punishment. The family were actually very compassionate towards the offender and asked to Police to be lenient with her. What they are asking for is not unreasonable at all.

It's a bloody disgrace.

The thing is, if I killed someone accidentally, I'd still expect to be punished for this. I couldn't live with myself. I don't know how people do.

If she were a decent person she would return to the UK herself (she's a grown ass woman who can catch a plane) and give herself up at the UK airport receiving her. Otherwise she is a complete criminal, a reprehensible person and basically shitty.

Isitnearlyweekend. That's all she could have done, I agree it's hardly likely to be enough for the family but her government wouldn't have allowed anything else, even if she'd wanted it IMO. I strongly suspect that the reason she at first co-operated with police and then went back unexpectedly is because she was "ordered" to return by the US.

That said, I'm not sure I believe anyone here would have stayed and risked a prison sentence in a foreign country, given the choice, no matter how remorseful they were.

I'm very worried that the family are being exploited for political means and lawyers fees though. I hope they have someone decent advising them. There's no way they can "win" anything here.

Can I also point out that for all we know, she could have been on her phone as well as driving on the wrong side!

Why point that out? It hasn't been suggested, and it adds nothing.

What needs to happen is that she needs to get her cold hearted arse back over here and face the charges and the resulting punishment

The problem is that she doesn't have the right to waive immunity - only the US government does.

The comments about her having lived in the U.K. for 3 weeks show a lack of understanding of what it is like to live in a foreign country, drive regularly on the same stretch of road and go into autopilot.

You might as well say 'people don't understand how hard it is to drive safely after a few drinks'.

People are allowed to drive abroad on the basis that they are able to cope with driving on the wrong side of the road.

The problem is that she doesn't have the right to waive immunity - only the US government does.
Are you saying they would prevent her from flying back here and talking to the Police?

@jasjas1973
I am an investigator on a road death unit. There is no such thing as a genuine accident. Someone colliding with another vehicle is because of a driver not paying attention/being pissed or drugged/distracted. In fact we don’t use the word accident because there is always blame to be had by a driver, pedestrian etc.
These are not spontaneous events out of everyone’s control, they are caused by a human. If there is evidence that a driver has committed an offence then they should be prosecuted. I’m sure if one of her kids was killed by a uk driver on the wrong side of the road she would expect justice.

I think they probably insisted she went home and wouldn't allow her to return if she wanted to familiycourtq. Diplomats don't have much control over their own lives.

But most people here wouldn't be satisfied by her "talking" anyway.

Are you saying they would prevent her from flying back here and talking to the Police?

No. Check what I actually posted.

@merrymouse
You’re missing my point. Of course she needs to drive competently.

What I’m saying is her having lived in the uk for 3 weeks think she should have known better as though she’s reprogrammed her brain. The brain takes a lot longer than 3 weeks to find driving on the opposite side of the road second nature. As I said, it took me a couple of years when I returned to the uk and turned around (ie did a u turn).

Vigilance is required all the time. But she needed to be extra vigilant and wasn’t because she didn’t understand what it takes to drive safely in a foreign country.

The press seem to think her husband was/is a spy.

There's no way on earth the Americans are going to let her (or him) anywhere near our courts if that's the case.

fair enough mummyoflittledragon, I think I did misunderstand what you were trying to say.

@Thatagain

FIRST I would like to say sorry for your loss to Harry's family if they are reading this.

So sad. I have a son the same age who rides a motorbike. I cannot possibly imagine the pain they are going through. I do think that the responsible driver should be brought to justice in the uk. Although I doubt it will happen.

I think even if they raised millions it still won't happen. She is a free human in the US using diplomatic immunity. She should do the right thing though for harry and the other children in the car. I don't think she will though.

She knows what happened and she took no responsibility for her actions. DISGRACEFUL.

Agree completely. I feel so sorry for Harry's parents, but there's really nothing anyone can do. Unless the woman comes back. And she won't. Most people wouldn't if they were totally honest.

@Isitnearlyweekend

There is no such thing as a genuine accident. Someone colliding with another vehicle is because of a driver not paying attention/being pissed or drugged/distracted.

In fact we don’t use the word accident because there is always blame to be had by a driver, pedestrian etc.These are not spontaneous events out of everyone’s control, they are caused by a human.

If there is evidence that a driver has committed an offence then they should be prosecuted. I’m sure if one of her kids was killed by a uk driver on the wrong side of the road she would expect justice.

This. ^ Agree with this. Very rarely is an incident or collision on the road for any reason, other than human error. Of course, mechanical failure, tyre blow-outs etc, can occur making a collision or incident occur without human error, but it IS more likely to be human error.

imagine if it had been a European (white van or truck or car) driver who took a wrong turning on a roundabout & landed up on the wrong side & killed someone - what would be the attitude of the public - universal condemnation I am sure & if they had skipped back to Europe to avoid charges. How many of the people on here who excuse her would have excused them, I wonder?

mumwon

but in the EU, the pressures would be to return the alleged offender, we might like to think the US is our closest ally but the reality is that european nations are.
The US uses the UK to justify their military adventures.

So, we backed the US in Iraq, France did not but when the contracts post war were dished out, France got them....Uk to the back of the queue.

@jasjas I agree but the point I was making -albeit badly- was that several people kept making excuses for her not being used to driving on the left and that it was an accident - I was speculating as to whether they would be so forgiving if a European had done this - however some of our criminals have escaped to Europe to escape justice for more severe issues.

Unless the woman comes back. And she won't. Most people wouldn't if they were totally honest.
How do you know? Don’t judge others by your standards.