Anne Sacoolas: Former US spy avoids jail over death of teen motorcyclist Harry Dunn
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.
Anne Sacoolas has been sentenced over the death of Harry Dunn
Latest updates on Anne Sacoolas sentencing
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.
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.
Read more: Sacoolas questioned by Sky News’ James Matthews after sentencing
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‘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.”
Read more: See full text of Sacoolas’ statement
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.
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.”
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.”
Ms Charles and Harry’s father, Tim Dunn, said they were “horrified” that Sacoolas was instructed to attend the hearing remotely and accused the US of “actively interfering” in British justice.
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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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.”
More jurors have been dismissed on the second day of Donald Trump’s hush money case – as he claimed outside court that the trial “should never have been brought”.
No one has yet been chosen on the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates in the historic trial which started on Monday.
Several others were excused on Tuesday morning after saying they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments.
Trump speaks before entering the courtroom. Pic: AP
Dozens of potential jurors have yet to be questioned.
It is the first of Trump‘s four criminal cases to go to trial and may be the only one that could reach a verdict before the presidential vote in November.
If convicted, Trump – the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – would become the first former US president convicted of a crime.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious and, he says, bogus stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign.
Trump has claimed the trial is the result of a politically motivated justice system working to deprive him of another term as president.
Trump during the second day of jury selection. Pic: Reuters
Before entering the courtroom this morning, he stopped briefly to address a TV camera in the hallway, repeating his claim that the judge is biased against him.
“This is a trial that should have never been brought,” Trump said.
Among the potential jurors dismissed on Tuesday was a woman who had previously notified the judge she had a trip planned around Memorial Day.
A man was excused after saying he could not be impartial.
Read more:
All the terms you might hear in Trump’s court cases
The key figures in the hush money case
Another man, who works at an accounting firm, was dismissed after saying he feared his ability to be impartial could be compromised by “unconscious bias” from growing up in Texas and working in finance with people who “intellectually tend to slant Republican”.
Jury selection could take several more days – or even weeks – in New York, which is a heavily Democratic city.
Around a third of the 96 people in the first panel of potential jurors in court on Monday remained after the judge excused some members.
Trump outside Trump Tower. Pic: Reuters
More than half were excused after saying they could not be fair and impartial, and several others were dismissed for other reasons that were not disclosed.
The trial centres on $130,000 (£104,400) in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen.
He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actress Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
The former president has denied the sexual encounter ever happened.
Read more: Who is Stormy Daniels?
Prosecutors say the payments – which they claim were falsely logged as legal fees – were part of a scheme to bury damaging stories Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly as his reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.
Trump said the payments, which he acknowledged reimbursing Mr Cohen for, were designed to stop Ms Daniels from going public about the alleged encounter.
The former president previously said it had nothing to do with the 2016 campaign.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
If convicted of falsifying business records, Trump faces up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee he will get time behind bars.
His three other legal cases, involving allegations of election interference and hoarding classified documents, could lead to lengthy prison sentences.
But those cases are tied up with appeals or other issues that make it increasingly unlikely they will be decided before the election.
If Trump wins in November, he could order a new attorney general to dismiss his federal cases.
US
US funeral home owners accused of spending pandemic relief funds on holidays, cosmetic surgery, jewellery and cryptocurrency
The owners of a US funeral home have been accused of spending nearly $900,000 (£723,000) in pandemic relief funds on things such as holidays, cosmetic surgery, jewellery and cryptocurrency.
Jon and Carie Hallford, owners of Return To Nature Funeral Home in Colorado, already face more than 200 criminal charges connected to last year’s discovery of 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested storage building.
Those charges include corpse abuse, money laundering, theft and forgery, including allegations they gave families dry concrete instead of cremated ashes, collected money for burials and cremations they never provided, and buried the wrong body on two occasions.
Now they face 15 further charges alleging they spent $882,300 (£708,000) in pandemic relief funds on items including two vehicles – a GMC Yukon and an Infiniti worth over $120,000, trips to California, Florida and Las Vegas, $31,000 in cryptocurrency, laser body sculpting, and luxury goods from retailers such as Gucci and Tiffany & Co.
The couple appeared in a federal court on Monday, where the prosecution argued they were a flight risk, having fled to Oklahoma last October after the decaying bodies were found and again before their arrest on state charges in November.
The judge did not decide whether they should be released pending trial, instead scheduling another hearing for Thursday.
Return To Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado. Pic: Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette/AP
The discovery of the 190 bodies, some of which had been there since 2019, shocked the state of Colorado, which has some of the US’s weakest funeral home regulations.
Concerns were raised as far back as 2020 about the business’s improper storage of bodies but regulators did not act, allowing the number of bodies to grow to nearly 200.
It was only after neighbours complained about the smell that authorities looked more closely at the modest 2,500-square foot building in Penrose, about 30 miles south of Colorado Springs.
Since the bodies were discovered, dozens of families have been told the ashes they were given could not have been the remains of loved ones.
Donald Trump described the hush money case against him as an “assault on America” as he arrived at court in New York ahead of his historic trial.
The former US president is accused of criminally altering business records to cover up a $130,000 (£104,200) payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, during his 2016 election campaign.
Ms Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was paid $150,000 (£120,000), both claim to have had affairs with Trump.
His lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to help him win the election.
Speaking as he arrived at the Manhattan court, Trump said: “Nothing like this has ever happened before. It should never been brought.
Donald Trump sits in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York.
Pic: Reuters
“It’s an assault on America. An assault on our country. A country that’s failing.
“It’s an attack on a political opponent, that’s all it is. So I’m very proud to be here.”
Read more:
All the terms you might hear in Donald Trump’s court cases
The key figures in the Donald Trump hush money case
Pic: AP
Trump then continued to attack US President Joe Biden and repeated claims that the trial is political persecution, saying: “It’s a country that’s run by an incompetent man who is very much involved in this case.”
Before proceedings began Judge Juan M Merchan denied a request by the defence to recuse himself from the case.
Defence lawyers had renewed a motion from last summer arguing that an interview Mr Merchan gave to the media, his daughter’s work at a political consultancy firm and his daughter’s social media activity created a conflict of interest that merited recusal.
Pic: Reuters
But Mr Merchan said Trump had “failed to provide” evidence of a conflict and instead relied on a “series of inferences [and] innuendos”.
“Defendant’s second motion for recusal is denied,” the judge ruled in court.
He added that he will not yet rule on Trump’s request to skip the trial on 17 May in order to attend his son’s high school graduation.
“It really depends on if we are on time and where we are in the trial,” Mr Merchan said.
People hold placards against Trump. Pic: Reuters
The trial begins with the selection of the jury, which Sky News’ US partner network, NBC, said could take up to two weeks because of the large pool of prospective jurors.
Both the defence and prosecution agreed to a “hybrid” approach to the selection process, involving jurors being asked separate questions – one about conflicts with the trial, and another on whether jurors identify as impartial or unbiased.
Mr Merchan said the process – first requested by Trump’s lawyers – would not delay anything.
Around 200 Trump supporters gathered outside the courthouse as well as roughly 40 other individuals who were protesting against the former president.
Trump with his legal team ahead of the start of jury selection. Pic: Reuters
One group of demonstrators carried a banner that read, “no one is above the law”.
Monday’s proceedings mark the first of four indictments against the former president to go to trial, and is the first to be held ahead of this year’s presidential election.
Trump faces two other criminal trials accusing him of trying to subvert his 2020 election loss to Mr Biden, and another that accuses him of mishandling classified information after he left the White House in 2021.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. No other former US president has ever faced criminal charges.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, said he co-ordinated with Trump on payments to Ms Daniels and to Ms McDougal.
Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018 in relation to the payments and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was released into house arrest after one year.
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