American driver flees UK after crash leaves British nurse unable to walk
The UK is considering extraditing an American driver who fled the country after a crash that left a British nurse unable to walk.
Mystery surrounds exactly who 22-year-old Isaac Calderon really is after the victim of the crash was told by police that he had been visiting a British special forces base (SAS) near Hereford.
Elizabeth Donowho told Sky News that she was “devastated” when Calderon, who is accused of causing injury by dangerous driving, failed to turn up to a hearing at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on 1 December. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
In court, Calderon’s occupation was given as “American soldier”, according to the Hereford Times.
Ms Donowho – who is 56 and from Malvern in Worcestershire – broke both of her ankles in the collision and was also left with a fractured sternum and a broken bone in her hand. She was unable to walk for six weeks following the collision.
It happened on the A4103 near Shucknall in Herefordshire on 31 July.
The crash – on the A4103 – left Mrs Donowho unable to walk for weeks
She said police officers had explained to her that Calderon had driven from Cambridgeshire, where he was based as an American person working in this country.
“I was told that he was visiting somebody at the SAS in Hereford,” she added.
“So there was something like ‘so you can understand the nature of the other driver’s work in this country, bearing in mind he was visiting the SAS’.”
“It was later on that they confirmed [to me] that he has been working for the US intelligence services, I think they said secret services.”
However, a spokesperson for West Mercia Police told Sky News that they were unaware of any connection to the SAS base in Hereford, but they understood Calderon was in the country on a “work visa”.
In a statement they said: “It’s believed Mr Calderon is currently in the United States.
“We have been working to reach him both directly and through formal channels and will continue to do so.
“We are preparing appropriate paperwork should we need to request extradition to ensure that the case can be heard in court.”
Mrs Donowho said she had “fully expected” the defendant to turn up to court.
“I’ve been given this assurance by the police that they’d spoken to British military police, who had spoken to American military police, who had agreed to take all the necessary steps to keep the other driver in this country so that he could attend court.
“They cited the case of Anne Sacoolas as the reason for this because they realised that the other driver was a flight risk.”
In 2019 Anne Sacoolas, a US spy, left the UK claiming diplomatic immunity after she was involved in a crash that killed British teenager Harry Dunn outside an RAF base in Northamptonshire.
Harry Dunn
Sky News understands that there aren’t any issues of diplomatic immunity in this case.
It’s believed that Calderon left the UK for the US on 25 November on a commercial flight to Houston, Texas.
A spokesperson for the British government said: “We are concerned at reports that Issac Calderon has failed to appear in court to answer charges.
“The Crown Prosecution Service are considering next steps.”
The nurse, who has been unable to return to work due to her injuries, said: “I lead a very quiet life, I go to work, come home, go swimming, look after my cats, now I’m in this awful mess.
“It turns out he was able to stroll out of the country before the hearing.
“They were absolutely aware he was a flight risk, and they were aware of the case of Anne Sacoolas.”
Sky News contacted the US State Department and the US Embassy in the UK for comment.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy said: “As a general matter, we do not comment on ongoing litigation in cases involving US citizens.”
The crash involving a cargo ship and oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast is bad news for the sea, fish and air in the area. What we don’t know yet is quite how bad it will be.
That depends on a few things – but the speed of the collision, clouds of filthy black smoke from the fires and the leaked fuel are certainly worrying.
Firstly, it matters what was on board those two massive vessels.
Follow live: Jet fuel spilling into sea after tanker collision
Analytics firm Vortexa estimates the 183m-long tanker was carrying about 130,000 barrels of jet fuel (kerosene), which is now leaking into the sea.
Jet fuel is not as sticky or viscous as heavier types of oil, thankfully, so it’s less likely to clog the feathers and fur of birds and seals. It can also be broken down by natural bacteria.
But it can still poison fish and kill animals and plants on the shoreline if it makes its way into the soil there.
The Marine Conservation Society has pointed out the site in the Humber estuary is close to some protected areas and is important for seabirds and harbour porpoises.
And both ships will have been powered by a dirtier, heavier kind of oil – likely marine gas oil or heavy fuel oil, though we don’t know the details yet.
Heavy fuel oil is nasty stuff.
Pic: Bartek Smialek/PA
Cheap, thick and tar-like, it can smother animals and is very dangerous if they consume it, and is extremely difficult to clean up. Let’s hope this isn’t creeping around the North Sea already.
We don’t know how much of either the jet fuel or the oil powering the ships has leaked, or how much will be burned off in the violent fires – which themselves are ploughing black smoke and filthy air pollution into the surrounding atmosphere.
And we don’t know for sure what was on the Solong cargo ship and if, or what, will go into the sea.
Cargo ship ‘had sodium cyanide on board’
It was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among other cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The container vessel was also transporting an unknown quantity of alcohol, said the casualty report – an assessment of incidents at sea – citing a message from the local coastguard.
Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, and potentially can choke or trap animals.
Many of us have seen that uncomfortable viral video of a turtle having a straw yanked out of its nose. Previous accidents on cargo ships have seen plastic Lego pieces wash up in Cornwall 25 years later.
Read more:
How UK North Sea platforms dump gas
Secondly, the impact depends on the sea and weather conditions around it.
Things like the wind and currents affect how an oil spill spreads in the sea. Scientists can draw up computer models to simulate how the oil could behave.
Thirdly, it matters how quickly this is all tackled and then cleaned up, if necessary, and if it can be.
Usually the slower the response, the worse the impact.
The coastguard has said the incident “remains ongoing” and it has started assessing the “likely counter pollution response” that will be required.
Such a response might need the help of numerous public bodies: the government environment department, the transport department, the Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
So for now the best we can hope for – aside from the welfare of the people involved – is that not all the oil is spilled or burnt, that conditions are calm and that rescuers and those cleaning up can work swiftly.
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