“Have a nice day”: US killer of teenager Harry Dunn dodges questions after judge spares her jail
US citizen Anne Sacoolas handed suspended sentence of eight months in prison over death of British teenager
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The US killer of a British teenager dodged questions after she was spared prison for causing his death by careless driving.
Anne Sacoolas said no more than “have a nice day” when a reporter asked if she had any words for the grieving family of 19 year-old Harry Dunn.
The 45 year-old diplomat’s wife was charged with his death after her Volvo, which she was driving on the wrong side of the road, hit the motorbike he was riding near military base RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire in August 2019.
Employed by an intelligence agency in the US at the time of the crash, the US embassy initially said she was covered by diplomatic immunity so would not face prosecution over his death.
It took Mr Dunn’s family three years to finally have their day in court, though Sacoolas was allowed to attend via video call from the States for the hearing on Thursday. She was handed a suspended sentence of eight months in prison and has been disqualified from driving for 12 months.
After Thursday’s sentencing, Sacoolas was approached in Washington by Sky News’ James Matthews.
Footage shows Sacoolas, with her face shrouded by a cap and face mask, telling the approaching broadcaster to “have a nice day”.
Mr Matthews, flanked by a camera crew, asks: “What words do you have for Harry Dunn’s family?”
Sacoolas says again: “Have a nice day.”
Mr Matthews then asks the former US government employee if she had “compounded” the Dunn family’s grief by delaying justice for three years. Sacoolas continues to walk, offering no response.
By this time Sacoolas and her escorts have reached a lift. She presses the button to call the elevator while the woman accompanying her attempts to cover the camera with what appears to be a flat file containing documents.
Mr Matthews asks: “Why didn’t you go to attend court in the UK?” but Sacoolas does not reply.
The lift doors slide open, and Sacoolas and the pair accompanying her enter.
“You are not getting in this elevator,” the female chaperone says repeatedly. The other, a man, asks “do you mind?” as the camera advances on the lift’s threshold.
The journalist asks: “Ms Sacoolas, why did Harry Dunns’s family have to wait three years to see you receive justice today?”
“What words do you have for Harry Dunn’s family?” Sacoolas does not respond and the lift doors close.
Sacoolas did not attend court in person on the advice of the US government, despite repeated calls by judges hearing the case that she should be there.
Mr Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles broke down in the Old Bailey as she spoke of how her son was “so senselessly and cruelly taken from us.”
“My beautiful son Harry, twin brother of Niall, is gone and is never coming back.”
She continued: “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.
“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 the hospital that we would get him justice and a mother never breaks a promise to her son.”