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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Andy Lines

Harry Dunn's mum says Trump held her hand at extraordinary White House meeting

Harry Dunn's grieving mother said Donald Trump held her hand during an extraordinary meeting at the White House earlier today.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn met the US President to talk about the death of their 19-year-old son.

Harry's motorbike was involved in a head-on collision outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August.

Anne Sacoolas, the motorist allegedly responsible for the crash, was given diplomatic immunity and allowed to return to the US after the crash.

Trump told Harry's parents Sacoolas would not return to the UK but revealed that she was in the White House with them.

Harry Dunn's parents pictured leaving their meeting in the White House (Phil Harris)
Mum Ms Charles embracing her partner Bruce, in front of Harry's dad Tim and his partner Tracey (left) (Phil Harris)

In a dramatic twist, the President said he could introduce the parents to Sacoolas, however they declined the offer.

Reports say Sacoolas was in the room next to where Harry's mum and dad met Trump.

They told reporters that it would have been inappropriate to meet her in the absence of counsellors or mediators, according to Sky News.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the President, Harry's mum said: "We basically reiterated that we were still willing to meet but on UK soil."

Harry Dunn's parents want to meet with woman who killed him but on UK soil 

She continued: "She needs to come back and face the justice system...and he was quite respondent. When we said to him if this was your son you would be trying to do the same to get justice for him.

"He agreed with that and said he said he will now push to look at this from a different angle."

Ms Charles said the President held her hand during the meeting.

She added that her son would have been 'a little blown away' by the meeting with Trump, reports say.

Officials sitting in on the talks indicted that Sarcoolas would not be returning to the UK to face justice.

Harry Dunn, 19, was killed on August 27 near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire (Justice4Harry)

The President told the family that 'his good friend' Boris Johnson called him to see if anything could be done about their son's case, according to Sky News.

In a post on the Justice 4 Harry GoFundMe page, Ms Charles and Mr Dunn said of the meeting at the White House: "We are grateful for the invitation, which we hope represents a positive development in our fight for justice.

"Our priority, as any parent will understand, is justice for our child.

"We believe this can only be achieved if Anne Sacoolas returns to England and engages properly with the justice system, where she will be treated fairly in a proper investigation of what happened to our son on that day - an investigation that cannot happen without her co-operation.

Tim Dunn spoke to Mirror Online on his way from New York to Washington yesterday (Phil Harris)
Harry Dunn's parents want the woman who allegedly killed him to face justice (PA)

"Friends tell each other the truth. If Britain and America are friends then we believe there should be no possibility of a citizen of one country hiding from justice in another while falsely claiming a privilege such as diplomatic immunity."

Before arriving at the White House, dad Tim Dunn told Mirror Online: "We are surprised we have been invited to the White House - we are not sure exactly who we are seeing yet."

The couple recently urged after she fled to the US.

Harry Dunn's parents talk about their son after meeting with Donald Trump

Harry, 19, was killed in a car crash with Ms Sacoolas, a diplomat's wife, near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. Sacoolas, 42, has admitted driving on the wrong side of the road when she hit him on his motorbike.

Her lawyer urged his family to ask media to stop trying to reach her as she claimed diplomatic immunity.

"Somewhere, somebody has made a decision to give this lady immunity," Mr Dunn said.

"She's not entitled to immunity as it's been said and we've known that from the start.

"They made a mistake, someone has made a mistake.

Harry's mother Ms Charles (right) walking with her partner Bruce in front of Harry's dad Tim and his partner Tracey (Phil Harris/Daily Mirror)

"On that night there was an accident, a lady made a mistake, she killed our son, she didn't mean to kill him, she didn't mean to have an accident, but you cannot walk away from that and just leave and expect nothing to happen.

"Our boy died and he deserves to have some justice.

"That's all we want."

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