Harry Dunn family call for investigation into failings in his case
It follows an independent review last week which made 38 recommendations to the Northamptonshire Police force.
The family of Harry Dunn have called for the recent report into failings over their sons death to be further investigated.
The report found many mistakes were made in the case involving the teenagers death outside RAF Croughton in 2019.
The family have asked Northamptonshire Police if they will refer the failings, many involving the disgraced former Chief Constable Nick Adderley to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone said the complaint from the family is being assessed, to see if it meets the standards the IOPC need for an investigation.
Last weeks report also found the force should have arrested the US women who killed Harry when driving on the wrong side of the road in 2019.
The review also found the disgraced ex-chief constable had a "detrimental" impact on the investigation into the death of Harry Dunn - including making erroneous media statements and causing a breakdown in relations with his family.
The review
The report said Nick Adderley, who was sacked in June last year after lying about serving in the Falklands War, was reprimanded by the Foreign Office for making inaccurate comments about suspect Anne Sacoolas's immunity status after she had left the UK.
Sacoolas eventually pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving via video link at the Old Bailey following three years of the Dunn family campaigning for justice, after she was able to leave the UK when diplomatic immunity was asserted on her behalf
The independent review, published on Wednesday, concluded that there was a "lack of co-ordination and adherence to APP (professional standards guidance)" under Mr Adderley's leadership.
The report said: "The review found that while the investigation was well handled, elements of senior leadership were not.
"The was a lack of co-ordination and adherence to APP.
"There were clearly significant efforts being made to deal with the challenges that this unique set of circumstances presented, but the lack of clarity defined Gold group strategy, and co-ordination of all stakeholders has meant that at times, areas of business were acting independently of one another."
The review continued: "This is evidenced during an interview when Chief Constable Adderley suggested that Anne Sacoolas could make decisions around waiving her diplomatic status, which she couldn't.
"According to the FCO (Foreign Office), diplomatic immunity belongs to the sending state.
"This prompted the FCO to contact Northamptonshire Police and request CC Adderley did not repeat erroneous statements.
"There were also discrepancies within CC Adderley's press conference on 22nd October 2019.
"Within the conference, information was provided to the national press which was inaccurate.
"The information was never sent to the SIO (senior investigating officer) for fact checking prior to release.
"There was also a lack of appropriate recording and associated documentation in relation to high-level meetings such as minutes, strategy, tasking and action logs."
Harry's mother, Charlotte Charles, told the PA news agency she remained "angry" at Adderley for the way her family was treated during the investigation.
The review said the breakdown in relations between the Dunn family and the force because of Mr Adderley's actions was "avoidable".
It highlighted incidents such as a tweet from the disgraced ex-police chief, which showed him react to the family's intentions to sue Sacoolas in the US by saying: "How sad but how predictable."
The report continued: "It would be remiss of the review not to highlight some of the difficulties faced by the SIO and investigation team as a direct result of the activities of CC Adderley."
It said a strategy to implement a fresh family liaison policy was "rendered almost redundant" by Adderley after he elected to speak and provide information to family spokesman Radd Seiger on X without informing the SIO.
The review said: "This placed the SIO and investigation team in an unenviable position as they sought to regain the trust of the family.
"There were multiple areas of direct involvement from CC Adderley which had a detrimental impact on the SIO and investigation team's efforts to rebuild trust and confidence."
It added: "The review also found that any Gold group structure implemented by CC Adderley was not fit for purpose, not in line with APP, and ultimately was a significant contributing factor in the loss of confidence in Northamptonshire Police from Harry Dunn's family."