The woman who killed Harry Dunn has managed to dodge jail for the 19-year-old's death. Anne Sacoolas, 45, from the US admitted last month that she had accidentally killed the teen while driving a Volvo near a US military base in August 2019.
Today, at the Old Bailey and live on television, she was sentenced by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb to 8 months, suspended for a year. Sacoolas, who appeared via videolink, was spared jail time in the UK because she is still currently in the US, the Mirror reports.
The hearing is one out of a handful of sentencings which have been broadcasted live to the public for the first time in British legal history. Harry tragically lost his life on August 27, 2019, when Sacoolas was travelling down the wrong side of the road in her car outside the American military base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August.
At the time of the incident, Sacoolas was driving two of her children home from a barbeque at Croughton US Air Base. Harry Dunn had spent the afternoon with his friend and was on his way home on a motorbike.
Harry was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford but sadly died from his injuries at 10.50pm. Sacoolas was able to leave the UK 19 days after the crash, as the US government had granted her diplomatic immunity.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb criticised the US citizen for her lack of attendance in court stating that an appearance would have been "strong evidence of remorse". She remarked that: "At no point during these proceedings was it suggested that you were not free to travel.
"There could be little reason where a young man had met his death for you not to be required to attend for sentence. A week before that date, the court received a renewal of an application for you to appear via live link which made reference to harassment you and your family had received.
"A request was made on your behalf for a delay of a week to obtain further evidence – this was allowed." The judge then revealed that she received ''for the first time in these criminal proceedings'' a ''barrier'' against Sacoolas attending the court from the US government.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she was given a statement that read: “The US government does not in any way support Mrs Sacoolas’ appearance at this hearing. Her return could place significant US interests at risk."
Harry's heartbroken mother, Charlotte Charles, addressed the court in tears as she read an emotional victim impact statement. Sacoolas was seen crying while the 19-year-old's mum said: ''His passing haunts me every minute of every day and I'm not sure how I will get over it".
She added: "I didn’t make it to the hospital in time before he passed and the thought of that haunts me to my core. My job is to comfort my children and I wasn’t there for Harry to comfort him in what must have been an awful and painful, slow death, particularly as he lay on the side of the road waiting for an ambulance bleeding to death.
"If I had left work on time that night, I would have been able to delay him leaving the house, so that he wouldn’t have been travelling along the same road as Anne Sacoolas. I have been shaken to the point of breaking and the only thing that keeps me going every day is looking after Niall and Harry’s other siblings, and ensuring that we get justice for Harry.
Charlotte continued: "I made a promise to Harry in the hospital that we would get him justice and a mother never breaks a promise to her son. He was one in a million and his smile and laughter were infectious."
Charlotte thanked the judge for her words during the sentencing of Anne Sacoolas, adding that her "promise" for justice to her son "is well and truly complete". Sacoolas's lawyer, Ben Cooper KC, said in a statement that she was "deeply sorry for the pain I have caused".
In mitigation, Cooper said that the US citizen had been forced to relocate with her family after Harry's death due to receiving death threats via email and telephone. Reading a statement on behalf of the defendant, Mr Cooper said her actions caused her “regret every single day”, adding: “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about Harry.”
Mr Cooper added that Sacoolas “did not ask” for the US government to grant diplomatic immunity on her behalf, nor was she presented with an opportunity to have a say in the refusal of an extradition request submitted by the Home Office. He explained that the defendant left the country on a commercial flight after her family were redeployed on behalf of the government.
Opening the facts today, Duncan Atkinson KC described Harry as being his "normal self, happy and joking" at the time of the crash. He went on to say: "It is not suggested the Volvo was exceeding the speed limit. Neither driver seems to have seen or reacted to the other."
He added that Sacoolas told police at the scene that she was "so stupid" and had "made a mistake" and officers "observed that the defendant had her head in her hands and was crying" while being fully compliant with their requests. He shared that a breath test for alcohol came back negative and that the defendant acknowledged she was driving on the wrong side of the road.
A family spokesman, Radd Seiger said outside the Old Bailey: "Our real enemy here isn't Anne Sacoolas, our real enemy here is the US government."
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