UK PM says justice needed for UK teen killed in crash involving US diplomat's wife

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday raised the case of the death of a British teenager killed in an accident with a car driven by the wife of a U.S. diplomat during a meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"The Prime Minister reiterated the need for justice to be done for Harry Dunn and his family. He said there was a strong feeling among the people of the UK that justice must be delivered," said Johnson's official spokesperson.

Dunn, 19, died after a crash last August outside the Royal Air Force base in Northamptonshire used by the U.S. military. After the crash, American citizen Anne Sacoolas, the suspect driving the car, fled Britain.

Sacoolas, wife of a U.S. intelligence official based at the camp, claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting at Downing Street, Dunn's mom, Charlotte Charles, sent a plea to Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, as well as Pompeo, urging action.

The family wants Sacoolas to return to Britain to face justice.

Saying the past 11 months have been horrific, Charles said she would not wish what she has gone through on a worst enemy.

"We've got his anniversary coming up which is going to be beyond painful for us. It's just about doing the right thing. It always has been, it always will be."

Last December, 42-years-old Sacoolas was charged by British justice authorities with causing death by dangerous driving. A extradition request, sent to Washington by the British Home Office, was refused by Pompeo in January, with the U.S. state department's spokeswoman saying the decision was final.

During their talks, Johnson and Pompeo underlined their commitment to negotiate a strong post-Brexit free trade agreement between Britain and the United States.

Pompeo said a third round of talks on a free trade deal were scheduled for later this month.

"The primary focus for the U.S. will be to see if we can make progress and bring this to a closure just as quickly as possible."

Pompeo said he had spoken about a trade deal with Johnson and hopes it could be finalized before too long.

Pompeo said he and Raab would be meeting the British and American Business Council to hear "how we can get to the right place" to reducing trade barriers.

There are rising concerns in Britain that the trade deal would lower barriers to controversial U.S. exports such as chlorine-washed chicken and hormone treated beef.

Johnson has also said previously that Britain's National Health Service (the NHS) is "not on the table" during any post-Brexit trade deal talks with the United States.