Anne Sacoolas to face court charged with causing death of Harry Dunn in crash
It is thought that the 44-year-old American citizen will appear via video-link from the US
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Anne Sacoolas, the woman accused of killing 19-year-old British motorcyclist Harry Dunn, will face court proceedings in January, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
The teenager died after he was struck by a car Ms Sacoolas was driving outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019. Protected by diplomatic immunity, the 44-year-old American citizen was able to leave the UK 19 days after the incident.
It is thought that Ms Sacoolas will appear by video-link from the US in a case to be heard in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 January. She is charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
“While the challenges and complexity of this case are well known, we remain committed to securing justice in this matter,” a CPS spokesperson said.
“Anne Sacoolas has a right to a fair trial. It is extremely important there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice any proceedings,” they added.
Charlotte Charles, the teenager’s mother, said her family were pleased by the latest development.
“It’s been an exhausting and frustrating time since Harry’s death but my family and I are feeling very emotional and overwhelmed having just the learned the news that Mrs Sacoolas is now to face our justice system,” she said. “It is all that we asked for following Harry’s death.”
Responding to the news, the recently-appointed foreign secretary Liz Truss tweeted: “Welcome news that Anne Sacoolas will face a UK court. We continue to support the family to get justice for Harry Dunn.”
The confirmation of criminal proceedings comes more than two months after Mr Dunn’s parents reached a “resolution” with Ms Sacoolas over a damages claim in the US.
Ms Charles and Tim Dunn, the 19-year-old’s father, had travelled to the US this summer for talks. Details of the agreement, which was announced on 21 September, have not been divulged.
“It has come as some considerable relief to them that a resolution to the civil claim has been now been reached successfully between the parties and they can put this part of the campaign behind them,” Radd Seiger, the family’s spokesperson, said at the time.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration confirmed that its refusal to extradite Ms Sacoolas to the UK was “final”. Speaking on Friday, Mr Dunn, Harry’s father, said the US government had “decided to make our lives even more miserable than they already were” by making this decision.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said in January: “The United States government has declined the United Kingdom’s request for extradition of a US citizen involved in a tragic vehicle accident that occurred in the United Kingdom.
“Our decision in that regard was final.
“At the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the UK, the US citizen driver in this case had immunity from criminal jurisdiction.”
Lawyers told Alexandria District Court in the US state of Virginia that Ms Sacoolas and her husband’s work in intelligence was a “factor” in their decision to leave the UK for “security reasons”.
The Home Office’s extradition request was declined by the US authorities in January 2020, the month after Ms Sacoolas, whose husband worked as a technical assistant at RAF Croughton, was formally charged over Mr Dunn’s death.
British prosecutors allege that she was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the accident.