Anne Sacoolas has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, for causing the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn by careless driving.
Sacoolas, 45, was driving her Volvo on the wrong side of the B4031 in Northamptonshire, a two-lane road with a 40mph limit, when she hit Harry, 19, who was riding in the opposite direction.
The former US spy was sentenced in an “unprecedented” case at the Old Bailey – but did not attend the hearing in person after American officials stepped in.
Image: Anne Sacoolas has been sentenced over the death of Harry Dunn
Sacoolas left the UK in August 2019, claiming diplomatic immunity following the collision outside US military base RAF Croughton.
It left the teenager’s grieving parents facing a “torturous” three-year journey to seek justice for their son.
She pleaded guilty to causing Harry’s death by careless driving, via a video link from Washington DC in October this year.
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Alongside handing Sacoolas a suspended prison sentence, the judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, also ruled that she is disqualified from driving for 12 months.
She told the defendant, who appeared in court on Thursday via a video link from her lawyer’s office in the US capital, that while she remained in America her sentence could not be enforced.
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1:07
‘Why didn’t you go to UK to attend court?’
‘Little reason’ for Sacoolas not to attend court in person
Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb was critical of Sacoolas for not attending the sentencing hearing in person.
The court heard that she had been advised by American officials not to fly to the UK, as her return “could place significant US interests at risk”.
But Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said there was “little reason” for Sacoolas not to attend, as she had been granted bail.
She also praised Harry’s parents and family for their “dignified persistence”, which she said had led Sacoolas to “acknowledge her guilt”.
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Harry death has ‘broken us’
Delivering her sentence, the judge told Sacoolas: “You drove along the wrong side of the road for much more than a moment and you did not realise what you were doing when you came to a bend in the road.
“I bear in mind that this was a short period of driving and you were not familiar with English roads. The death of Harry Dunn is, of course, the highest degree of harm.
“Anyone who has caused death by driving would be expected to feel remorseful… and I accept that you feel genuine remorse.”
In a statement from Sacoolas, read out by her lawyer in court, she said that the mother-of-three lived with “regret every single day”.
She said: “There is not a day that goes by that Harry isn’t on my mind, and I am deeply sorry for the pain that I have caused.
“It’s for this reason that I have been so committed to a resolution to this case since 2019.”
Her barrister, Ben Cooper KC, also told the court that Sacoolas had been subject to harassment and multiple death threats and had moved home several times.
‘We’ve done it Harry’
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Harry’s mother, Charlotte Charles, gave an emotional speech in which she said that Sacoolas would have a “criminal record for the rest of her life”.
Ms Charles, who said she had promised her son in hospital that she would get justice, added: “Yep, Harry, we’ve done it.
“We would have been happy with anything – for us, it was just about doing the right thing.”
Family spokesman Radd Seiger added: “Our real enemy here isn’t Anne Sacoolas, our real enemy here is the US government.”
At the time of the collision, Sacoolas was driving two of her children home from a barbecue at the Croughton air base in Northamptonshire.
Image: The crash happened outside RAF Croughton
The court heard on Thursday that Harry was thrown over the car and lay in the road as he said “don’t let me die”, after the collision.
Sacoolas called her husband to the scene and was seen to be crying with her head in her hands, the Old Bailey heard.
She acknowledged she was driving on the wrong side of the road, with speed not a factor and a breath test for alcohol showing negative, the court was told.
‘I made a promise to Harry’
In a victim impact statement, Ms Charles, sobbed as she described how her “world turned upside down”.
“He was the light of my life before he was so senselessly and cruelly taken from us. Harry just disappeared out of my life that night, shattering my existence forever,” she told the court.
She said Harry’s twin, Niall, continues to be “hit very hard” by the tragedy, adding: “I didn’t just lose one son the night Harry died. I lost Niall too.”
Image: The crash happened on the B4031 in Northamptonshire
Ms Charles added: “His passing haunts me every minute of every day and I’m not sure how I’m ever going to get over it.
“I made a promise to Harry in hospital that we would get him justice and a mother never breaks a promise to her son.”
They described their fight for the truth as “totally torturous”, adding: “It’s not an exhaustion that you can go to bed and sleep off.”
Mr Dunn told Sky News: “I think if you ever really told our story to somebody who didn’t know (it) they wouldn’t believe some of the stuff we’ve had… from that awful night in the hospital.”
But he added: “It’s been worth all the heartache and the pain to prove that normal people from Northamptonshire can take on these people and get what should be done straightaway and get justice.”
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1:57
Harry Dunn’s parents said they feel like they have fulfilled their promise to their son
‘I have nothing to say to her’
In October 2019, Harry’s family were invited to attend the White House and meet the-then president Donald Trump – who secretly arranged for Sacoolas to meet them in the Oval Office.
But the parents had no idea about the meeting and refused to take part in a photo-call Mr Trump was hoping for.
Now they say they have no desire to speak to her.
Ms Charles said: “You never say never, but I don’t think there’s a chance at all of that. It’s a bit too late. She’s had three years.”
Mr Dunn added: “I don’t feel there’s any need for me to meet her to be honest. I have nothing to say to her.”
Speaking following the conclusion of the sentencing, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “We have learnt important lessons from this tragic incident, including improvements to the process around exemptions from diplomatic immunity and ensuring the US takes steps to improve road safety around RAF Croughton.”
The UK and US have agreed a trade deal, with Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump confirming the announcement during a live televised phone call.
It is the first trade deal agreed after Mr Trump began his second presidential term in January, and after he imposed strict tariffs on countries around the world in April.
Sir Keir said the “first-of-a-kind” deal with the US will save thousands of jobs across the UK, boost British business and protect British industry.
• Lowering 27.5% tariff on British car exports to the US to 10%, affecting 100,000 vehicles each year
• UK steel and aluminium industries will no longer face any tariffs after they had 25% duties placed on them
• Beef exports allowed both ways
• UK to have “preferential treatment whatever happens in the future” on pharmaceuticals, the president said.
However, there is a still a 10% tariff on most UK goods imported into the US after Mr Trump imposed that duty on most countries’ exports last month.
Mr Trump said the “final details” of the agreement were still being “written up”.
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Watch full call with Trump and Starmer
Trade minister Douglas Alexander told parliament the UK has “committed to further negotiations on tariff reductions”.
MPs will be able to debate the deal and any legislation needed to implement it, he added.
Sir Keir said “this is a really fantastic, historic day” that will “boost trade between and across our countries”, while Mr Trump said the agreement would be a “great deal for both countries”.
The president said the deal will make both the UK and the US “much bigger in terms of trade” as he thanked Sir Keir, who he said has been “terrific for his partnership in this matter…we have a great relationship”.
Sir Keir said it was achieved by not playing politics, and insisted the UK can have good trade relations with both the US and the EU.
Red lines on beef and chicken
The PM said the UK had “red lines” on standards written into the agreement, particularly on agriculture.
Mr Alexander told the Commons: “Let me be clear that the imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken will remain illegal.
“The deal we’ve signed today will protect British farmers and uphold our high animal welfare and environmental standards.”
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Sky challenges Trump on trade deal
‘American beef is the safest’
US agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said the deal will “exponentially increase our beef exports”, and added: “To be very clear, American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.”
On whether the UK will have to accept all US beef and chicken, Mr Trump said: “They’ll take what they want, we have plenty of it, we have every type, we have every classification you can have.”
Hinting the US will move towards higher welfare practices, he said US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr “is doing a tremendous job and he’s probably heading toward your system with no chemical, no this, no that”.
‘A Diet Coke deal’
Previous UK governments have attempted – and failed – to secure a free trade agreement with the US, but Sir Keir had made it a high priority.
Conservative shadow trade secretary Andrew Griffith chastised the deal, saying the UK is still in the same category as Burundi and Bhutan.
“It’s a Diet Coke deal, not the real thing,” he told the Commons.
A man has been charged after allegedly harassing Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston for two years before crashing his car through the front gate of her home, prosecutors have said.
Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, of New Albany, Mississippi, is accused of having repeatedly sent the Friends star unwanted voicemail, email and social media messages since 2023.
The 48-year-old is then alleged to have crashed his grey Chrysler PT Cruiser through the front gate of Aniston’s home in the wealthy Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles early on Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors said the collision caused major damage.
Police have said Aniston was at home at the time.
A security guard stopped Carwyle on her driveway before police arrived and arrested him.
There were no reports of anyone being injured.
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Carwyle has been charged with felony stalking and vandalism, prosecutors said on Thursday.
He also faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm, Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said.
Carwyle, who has been held in jail since his arrest on Monday, is set to appear in court on Thursday.
His bail has been set at $150,000 dollars (£112,742).
He is facing up to three years in prison if he is convicted as charged.
“My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorise others, ensuring they are held accountable,” Mr Hochman said in a statement.
Aniston bought her mid-century mansion in Bel Air on a 3.4-acre site for about 21 million dollars (£15.78m) in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.
She became one of the biggest stars on television in her 10 years on NBC’s Friends.
Aniston won an Emmy Award for best lead actress in a comedy for the role, and she has been nominated for nine more.
She has appeared in several Hollywood films and currently stars in The Morning Show on Apple TV+.
Image: The defendants hugged each other after being acquitted of the charges. Pic: Commercial Appeal/USA Today Network/AP
The 29-year-old’s death and a video of the incident – in which he cried out for his mother – sparked outrage in the US including nationwide protests and led to police reform.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, described the verdicts as a “devastating miscarriage of justice”. In a statement, he added: “The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.”
Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he was “surprised that there wasn’t a single guilty verdict on any of the counts” including second-degree murder. He said Mr Nichols’ family “were devastated… I think they were outraged”.
Image: Former police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith were accused of second-degree murder. Pic: Memphis Police Dept/AP
But despite the three defendants being acquitted of state charges during the trial in Memphis, they still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges of witness tampering last year.
Two other former officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court. Desmond Mills Jr. gave evidence as a prosecution witness, while Emmitt Martin was blamed for the majority of the violence.
Sentencing for all five officers is pending.
Image: Tyre Nichols’ death sparked street protests in January 2023 in Memphis and across the US. Pic: AP
Video evidence showed Mr Nichols was stopped in his car, yanked from his vehicle, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. He broke free and ran away before the five police officers caught up with him again, and the beating took place.
Prosecutors argued that the officers used excessive, deadly force in trying to handcuff Mr Nichols and were criminally responsible for each others’ actions.
They also said the officers had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medics that Mr Nichols had been hit repeatedly in the head, but they failed to do so.
The trial heard Mr Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain and died from blunt force trauma.
The defence suggested Mr Nichols was on drugs, giving him the strength to fight off five strong officers, and was actively resisting arrest.
In December, the US Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.