Coroner criticises US government for lack of training given to Anne Sacoolas prior to Harry Dunn crash

A coroner has criticised the US government for a lack of training provided to its employee Anne Sacoolas before the crash that killed Harry Dunn.

Anne Pember concluded the teenage motorcyclist died as a result of “injuries sustained during a head-on collision” with a car on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019.

Speaking after the inquest, the family of Mr Dunn accused the US government of “obstructing” the case and said they were looking forward to working with the next government to establish a public inquiry.

Outside the court after the verdict, Charlotte Charles, Mr Dunn’s mother, said she was “totally disgusted” that Ms Sacoolas and the US embassy were absent from the four-day inquest.

She said: “They’ve further disrespected Harry. They’ve disrespected the future he could have had and it further bolsters my opinion that they have no regard for myself, my family, our wider family, they just don’t care. Disgusted.”

Of Ms Sacoolas, she added: “She could have chosen this week to try to redeem herself a little bit. She made a drastic, terrible error almost four and a half years ago by leaving the country and trying her best to evade justice. She showed her children in our opinion that she’s a coward and that she had no regard for any of us.

“She could have chosen the opportunity this week that you can try to redeem yourself in some way. She could have appeared on video link from the comfort of her own home but again she chose to hide and to leave us with no other option at all to just feel that she just doesn’t care.”

In a witness statement read to the court on Wednesday, Ms Sacoolas apologised for the “tragic mistake” that led to Mr Dunn’s death and said it will live with her “every single day for the rest of my life”.

Ms Sacoolas said she “instinctively moved to the right side of the road” and was not aware she was on the wrong side of the road “until after the collision”.

She told the inquest she “hysterically flagged down a motorist” after the crash and “begged her to get help”.

The 45-year-old said she had not received any training on driving on UK roads after arriving in the country.

Ms Pember, coroner for Northamptonshire, issued three prevention of future death notices, with one relating to the lack of training by the US government.

After the crash Ms Sacoolas fled to the US and claimed diplomatic immunity. She appeared before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey via video link in December 2022, where she pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

She was advised against attending her sentencing hearing by her employer, which prompted the family to say they were “horrified” that the US government was “actively interfering in our criminal justice system”.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb handed her an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Mr Dunn’s family was told that Ms Sacoolas was willing to attend the inquest remotely provided their lawyer did not ask questions. This proposal was rejected by the family.

Speaking about the last-minute talks, the family’s spokesperson Radd Seiger said: “What on earth were they thinking of?

“Who would seek to restrict a grieving family’s opportunity to understand how their son died in that way?

“This appeared to us to be yet another attempt to have Ms Sacoolas do things in our justice system that suited her.

“As much as the family wanted to hear from her, they are principled people and believe in doing things according to the rules.”

Mr Seiger criticised the role of the US and UK governments’ in the handling of Mr Dunn’s case.

He said: “It was not enough for them to kill Harry. It wasn’t enough for them to then kick Harry’s family in their darkest hour and seek to deny and delay the justice that they were entitled to.

“As we have all seen this week their attitude and approach to keeping their British hosts safe has been laid to bare and they have positively obstructed the coroner’s inquiry and deprived the family of the answers they were entitled to as to why no one has ever addressed the issue of safety of UK citizens.

“The next question is why have the UK governments over the years been happy to sit on the sidelines watching this scandal unfold.

“This Tory government has refused to get involved. Labour has promised us a public inquiry into the way we were treated and the failure on the part of both governments over the decades to address the issue of safety which has led to thousands of people being killed and seriously injured.”

Additional reporting by PA