Grieving mother blasts Qatar authorities for condemning family to ‘lifetime of not knowing’ over car crash death of her 21-year-old make-up artist daughter

• Raffy died after the car she was travelling in was hit from behind at high speed
• But Qatari authorities have not been forthcoming during Cambridge inquest 
• Her family said they’re condemned to ‘a lifetime of not knowing’ what happened

The grieving mother of a make-up artist from Cambridge who died in a car crash in Qatar has accused local authorities of condemning her family to ‘a lifetime of not knowing’ details of her death.

Rafaelle, who went by Raffy, died after the car she was travelling in was hit from behind at high speed in the early hours of March 30, 2019. 

A coronial inquest into the 21-year-old’s death took place in Peterborough Town Hall in Cambridgeshire, confirming she died from traumatic head and abdominal injuries as a result of the crash.

But coroner Simon Milburn apologised to the family for the limited details he’s able to provide, criticising the Qataris for not being more transparent or co-operating with the inquest.

He found there was a ‘lack of detailed forensic information that came out of Qatar’.

After the inquest, Raffy’s mother Jo Sullivan said: ‘The Qataris seem determined to condemn us to a lifetime of not knowing how Raffy died. 

‘This has been the most horrendous three and a half years of our lives. We are empty shells of our real selves and are still struggling to come to terms with the fact that Raffy is not here.’

Rafaelle, who went by Raffy, died after the car she was travelling in was hit from behind at high speed in the early hours of March 30, 2019 

Ms Sullivan said she and her husband, Raffy’s stepfather Donal Sullivan, had done all they could to support Qatar’s attempts to join ‘the global stage as a major player’.

The family lived in Qatar on and off for about 10 years, where Mr Sullivan was a construction boss working on the stadiums used for the World Cup.

‘I cannot believe the way the Qataris treated us from the moment we found Raffy dead in the hospital mortuary ourselves, with no one in authority offering to help us when she went missing,’ Ms Sullivan said.

‘What kind of country would make parents scour hospital wards themselves to find their missing daughter? The final straw, however, in our misery was the Qataris not helping the coroner with his inquiry.

‘All I can do now is warn the world what this country is really like as they try to persuade us all to treat them like a real member of the international community. No decent country treats human beings this way.’

Qatari authorities carried out an investigation into the accident but this was never communicated to the family, the inquest heard. 

After the inquest, Jo Sullivan, Raffy’s mother said: ‘The Qataris seem determined to condemn us to a lifetime of not knowing how Raffy died. Pictured (left to right): Family spokesman Radd Seiger; Charlotte Charles, the mother of late 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn; Jo Sullivan, mother of Raffy Tsakanika; and Donal Sullivan outside court in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire today

Mr Milburn said a white vehicle, driven by Mubarak Al Hajri, was ‘travelling significantly faster’ than the grey vehicle, which was driven by Ms Tsakanika’s friend Mohammed Ahmed Hussein Ali Al Majid.

He added that Al Hajri’s vehicle was travelling ‘significantly in excess’ of the 120km per hour (75 miles per hour) speed limit.

The then 46-year-old driver was convicted in Qatari courts of causing Ms Tsakanika’s death, causing serious injuries to her friend, driving in a way that endangered lives, fleeing the scene of an accident and speeding.

He was sentenced to two months in prison and ordered to pay compensation to Ms Tsakanika’s family.

The inquest also heard that ‘conclusions were not reached to the fullest’ with ‘limited assistance offered by Qatar authorities’.

Mr Milburn said material provided by the Qatari authorities was ‘far from ideal’ without detailed descriptions.

A coronial inquest into the 21-year-old’s death took place in Peterborough Town Hall in Cambridgeshire, confirming she died from traumatic head and abdominal injuries as a result of the crash 

‘The fact that the fullest information was not available is entirely due to the limited assistance offered by the Qatari authorities either because a full forensic investigation was never carried out or, if it was, the results of that investigation have never been provided to this court or to Raffy’s family,’ said Mr Milburn.

The inquest heard an inventory referring to ‘dead on arrival’ along with Ms Tsakanika’s passport was on display when the family were shown their daughter’s body at the morgue.

Mr Milburn said: ‘The Qatari documents provided do not, sadly, provide an accurate time and location of Raffy’s death. The lack of that information has no doubt been an added source of distress to Raffy’s family.’

The coroner said that potential witnesses based in Qatar took no part in proceedings ‘despite attempts to engage by the coroner’s service’.  

Ms Tsakanika’s mother, Jo Sullivan (pictured with her son Manny), said, as she fought back tears at the start of the inquest, that her daughter was ‘adored by everybody’

Donal Sullivan, Raffy’s stepfather, said: ‘Were it not for ex-pat friends in Qatar, our lawyers and our adviser Radd Seiger, we wouldn’t have even got this far’.

Family adviser and spokesman Mr Seiger said it was ‘clear’ that the coroner ‘did his absolute best in difficult circumstances with both arms tied behind his back without cooperation from the Qataris’.

He said the coroner had ‘quite rightly been scathing about the lack of cooperation from the Qatari government and I am shocked that no one at the FCDO has seen fit to reach out to us to explain what they are going to do to rectify the situation’.

He has called for Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to meet him and Raffy’s family ‘to discuss what is going to be done about this and how we are going to give Raffy’s family some peace’. 

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We have provided support to the family of a woman who died in Qatar in 2019 and raised her case with the Qatari authorities at a senior level.

‘We stand ready to offer further consular assistance as appropriate.’

Charlotte Charles, the mother of late 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn, attended the hearing to support Ms Tsakanika’s family.

Mr Dunn was killed when US citizen Anne Sacoolas drove her car on the wrong side of the road near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in 2019, crashing into him.

Source: Read Full Article