Sky News tracks down US driver who fled UK after crash left nurse unable to walk
Sky News has tracked down the American driver who fled the UK after a “devastating” crash that left a British nurse unable to walk.
Issac Calderon, 22, who is wanted by West Mercia Police, is now back living with his parents in his hometown in Texas.
The nurse, Elizabeth Donowho, who broke both ankles in the crash, told Sky News she was pleased Calderon had been located but felt sickened by the situation.
Ms Donowho revealed on Monday that she’d been told by UK police officers that Calderon was connected to the US intelligence services.
Nurse Elizabeth Donowho close to the site of her car crash in Shucknall Hill
A Sky News team has now spoken to Calderon’s father, Manuel, at the family’s detached house in a residential street in Humble, Texas.
He confirmed his son is now back at home and claimed the situation has been “blown out of proportion”.
His son had been described as a “fugitive” with the case likened to that of Anne Sacoolas, the US spy who left the UK after killing teenager Harry Dunn in a crash in Northamptonshire in 2019.
Mr Calderon insisted his son had been in the UK on a work visa and had recently been employed in a warehouse but he couldn’t recall the name of the company.
He said he’d paid for his son to fly home in November because he was “struggling to support himself” and to enable him to seek further medical treatment following the collision.
It was just days before a court hearing in Kidderminster where he had been expected to appear having been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
A warrant for his arrest was then issued.
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UK could extradite American driver
West Mercia Police said they’d been working to reach him “both directly and through formal channels” and they were preparing paperwork should they need to request the extradition of the American.
Both the US and the UK authorities have refused to disclose what Calderon was doing in the UK.
Ms Donowho said she was also told by police that he was visiting the SAS base in Herefordshire which is nine miles from the crash site.
Manuel Calderon told Sky News his son is part of the American National Guard and said he serves “a few weeks a year”.
Guard soldiers typically hold civilian jobs while maintaining their military training part time.
The US Embassy in London had previously told Sky News that Calderon was a “US citizen”.
Ms Donowho and Harry Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles
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Manuel Calderon said they had not heard from either the US or the UK authorities recently, and his son would not be able to discuss the case further because he was now seeking legal advice.
Ms Donowho said: “I feel sick. I’m obviously pleased that Mr Calderon has been found. However I am confused as to why I am learning this news from the media rather than the authorities.
“All I want is for him to face our justice system as soon as possible and an explanation as to how he was able to leave in the first place.”
Ms Donowho’s spokesperson, Radd Seiger, who helped the family of Harry Dunn in the wake of the Sacoolas case said: “I’m grateful to Sky News.
“It is a massive step forward that the defendant has now been located which is a relief to us all. He must now either come back voluntarily or be brought back to the UK without delay.
“Elizabeth has suffered enough and I would appeal to Mr Calderon and both the UK and US authorities to put Elizabeth’s interests as a victim of a near fatal crash first here and now get on and do the right thing.
“Mr Calderon is innocent until proven otherwise but is a fugitive on the run. He should not have fled and it is in his interests more than anyone else’s to come back to face the charges against him.
“We have one of the fairest legal systems in the world and he is entitled to and will get a fair trial when he is back.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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