Anne Pember, the senior coroner for Northamptonshire, has now concluded the fatal collision “may not have occurred” had Sacoolas been familiarised with the Highway Code and driving rules in the UK.
Writing to the Americas Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), she called for better training of US staff.
At his inquest, it was heard Sacoolas had been driving two of her children back from a barbecue at the base when she “inadvertently moved” onto the wrong side of the road, and drove for 350 metres before the impact.
Mr Dunn suffered “catastrophic” injuries including fractures to all four of his limbs, and he died when taken to hospital.
Mrs Pember ruled that Mr Dunn had died as a result of a road traffic collision.
In a prevention of future death report, she has revealed “matters giving rise to concern” heard at the inquest about driving instructions to Americans arriving in Britain.
She said of the two categories of US workforce at the base – the military personnel and diplomatic personnel – only the former received briefing of driving in the UK.
“Nothing was provided to the diplomatic personnel [to which Sacoolas belonged],” she wrote.
‘No familiarisation’
Mrs Pember pointed out that Sacoolas had received “no familiarisation or any other form of training” between her arrival and the crash.
“Prior to the accident she had passed a ‘throwback’ arrow signalling to a driver if they happened to be overtaking to get back to the left hand side,” she continued.
“However, [she] had not yet familiarised herself with the UK Highway Code and neither had she been trained in the differences in and significance of road signs in the UK.
“Had she received appropriate training reminding her to keep to the left and to help her to understand and interpret the UK road signs and markings it is possible the collision with Mr Dunn may not have occurred.”
‘Action should be taken’
Despite assurances from the US Embassy during the inquest that “driver training was now provided to all personnel” after Mr Dunn’s death, Mrs Pember issued a warning.
“The evidence heard at the inquest as to the content of that briefing/training was at odds with what had been described by the US Embassy,” she added.
“Specifically I was told that the driving training being provided did not specifically cover the risks of wrong-way driving.
“That creates a concern for me as to a risk of future deaths.”
She continued: “In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action.”
Mrs Pember added that they were under a duty to respond by August 29.
‘No regard for my family’
Charlotte Charles, Mr Dunn’s mother, reiterated her “disgust” that neither Sacoolas nor anyone from the US embassy attended the inquest – labelling it “disrespectful”.
She told reporters: “It further bolsters my opinion that they have no regard for myself or my family, our wider family – they just don’t care.”
Radd Seiger, the family’s spokesman, said the US government’s position was therefore that the “lives of UK citizens like Harry ultimately do not matter”.
Mr Seiger said Labour had promised the family a public inquiry into how Sacoolas was able to cause Mr Dunn’s death and leave the country after diplomatic immunity was asserted on her behalf.
