In August 2019, the British court sentenced the American Ann Sakulas to eight months of suspended imprisonment, who admitted to causing the death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn.
Sakulas, the wife of an American intelligence officer, was driving the wrong way when she collided with Dunn’s motorcycle outside RAF Croughton air base in eastern England. Three weeks after the incident, he returned to the US and the US government claimed diplomatic immunity for him. He pleaded guilty in October, but the Biden administration advised him not to return to the UK to face sentencing. Instead, he participated virtually.
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about Harry,” Sakulas said in a statement read by attorney Ben Cooper. He said he was “deeply sorry for the pain I caused.”
A suspended sentence means he will not be jailed unless he commits another crime in the next year.
ANNE SAKOLAS, the wife of a US diplomat charged over the crash that killed British teenager Harry Dunn, has been acquitted in a British court.
Despite describing Sakulas’ actions as “not far short of willful dangerous driving”, Judge Bobby Cheema-Grubb said Sakulas had pleaded guilty and shown good behavior, reducing his sentence – which carries a maximum of five years in prison was destruction Cheema-Grubb also argued that the sentence could not be enforced even if Sakulas was in the United States
Dunn’s family also filed a civil suit against Sakulas in federal court in Virginia. In court documents, they allege that Sakulas may have been using his phone at the time of the crash and that he may have altered his phone to hide information that would reveal it.
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His lawyer said in this case that Sacoolas “didn’t take any steps to remove the data from his phone” but changed SIM cards when he returned to the US because the old one was for the UK.
The U.S. refused to extradite Sakulas, meaning he could avoid prosecution, but Cheema-Grubb said the “calm and dignified determination” of Dunn’s parents convinced him to go to trial and plead guilty. did The parents spent three years talking to politicians in both countries to bring Sakulas to justice.
Charlotte Charles, left, Harry Dunn’s mother and Tim Dunn, his father, outside the Old Bailey in London, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Harry Dunn, 19, who was killed in a car crash outside an air base in eastern England in 2019, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
(Associated Press)
“As a family we are determined that his death will not be in vain and we are involved in a number of projects to find a silver lining in this tragedy and help others,” Dan’s mother Charlotte Charles said in a victim impact statement. statement. “It will be Harry’s legacy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.