US citizen Anne Sacoolas will avoid jail following sentencing for the death of British teen Harry Dunn.
Sacoolas, 45, was given a suspended sentence of eight months today (Thursday December 8).
A former employee of the US intelligence services, she was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Harry Dunn death: Anne Sacoolas sentencing
Sacoolas previously pleaded guilty to causing Harry’s death by careless driving.
She struck his motorcycle in August 2019 near military base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
Sacoolas admitted she was driving on the wrong side of the road when she collided with the 19-year-old.
Her plea in October followed a three-year legal battle between the Dunn family, the Foreign Office and the US government.
Sacoolas, the wife of a US diplomat at RAF Croughton, was originally charged with causing death by dangerous driving. She denied the charge but pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
She had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government and left the UK 19 days after the crash.
However, in December 2019, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised Northamptonshire Police to charge her with causing death by dangerous driving.
Sacoolas not in the UK for sentencing
Harry’s family were at the Old Bailey in London as the sentencing was broadcast live.
However, Sacoolas remained in the US and did not travel to the UK for her sentencing.
Sacoolas appeared via video link, alongside her US-based lawyer instead.
Judge Cheema-Grubb told the court that Sacoolas’s lawyers said the US government had objected to her travelling to London as it “could place significant US interests at risk”.
‘I too deeply grieve for Harry and his family’
Sacoolas’ lawyer Ben Cooper KC told the court that she is deeply remorseful for ‘the pain she caused’.
He read a statement on Sacoolas’ behalf: “I am deeply sorry for the pain that I have caused.
“And it is for that reason that I have been committed to a resolution of this case. I know there is nothing I can say to change what has happened.
“I cannot imagine the loss and I too deeply grieve for Harry and his family.”
Harry Dunn mother reacts
Speaking outside court, Harry Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles referred to a promise she made to her son in hospital to get justice.
She told reporters: “Job done, promise complete. Properly, properly complete now.
Job done, promise complete.
“Anne Sacoolas now has a criminal record. Yep, Harry, we’ve done it.
“We would have been happy with anything. For us, it was just about doing the right thing.”
Furthermore, family spokesperson Rad Sieger said: “Our real enemy here is not Ms Sacoolas, our real enemy here is the US government.”
Additionally, he said the US government “decided to kick them in the stomach, and continued to kick them in the stomach for three years”.
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