Former Northamptonshire police chief ‘nearly derailed case’

The retired lawyer who acts as a spokesperson for the family of the teenage crash victim Harry Dunn says a disgraced chief constable “nearly derailed” efforts to get justice.

An investigative review found that Nick Adderley, who was later sacked for lying about his career, had made erroneous statements about the immunity status of the woman convicted of causing Mr Dunn’s death.

The report also highlighted Mr Adderley’s criticism of the family spokesman, Radd Seiger, at a press conference.

Mr Seiger said the actions of Mr Adderley “nearly impeded justice”.

Mr Dunn died in August 2019 when his motorcycle was hit by a car being driven on the wrong side of the road near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.

The driver, Anne Sacoolas, left the UK under diplomatic immunity laws but was eventually given a suspended prison sentence for causing death by careless driving.

Mr Seiger, a neighbour of Mr Dunn’s family in Charlton, Northamptonshire, became the family’s spokesperson.

The review into the case, carried out by a former senior police officer, said that Mr Adderley had caused “numerous issues from a Family Liaison perspective” when he accused Mr Seiger of making a “wholly inaccurate statement” about adherence to the victim’s code.

He also urged Mr Seiger to “exercise restraint” when talking about the case.

The report highlighted a tweet by Mr Adderley responding to reports that Harry Dunn’s family were planning to sue Donald Trump’s administration.

Mr Adderley wrote: “How sad but how predictable!!”

The review also found the former chief constable had made “erroneous statements” in interviews about Sacoolas’s immunity status.

Mr Seiger said: “The way he interacted with us was against all protocols and procedures.

“This was the most senior man in the force at the time, he’s gone – and thank goodness he’s gone.

“He very nearly derailed this campaign, very nearly impeded justice, and that’s not what chief constables should be doing.”

He said the current Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet and his deputy had been “tremendous” in their dealings with the case and he believed the Northamptonshire force was now “headed in the right direction”.

The BBC has attempted to contact Mr Adderley.