The driver who hit Harry Dunn, a sad adolescent, has been urged by his parents to go back to the UK so that she may be sentenced there.
Harry, 19, passed away in August 2019 after being hit by a vehicle driven by Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US official, near RAF Croughton, a US military installation in Northamptonshire.
In a hearing at the Old Bailey on October 20 that she virtually attended from the US, 45-year-old Sacoolas eventually accepted guilt for Harry’s murder, prompting gasps from the audience.
Harry’s parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, said today on ITV’s This Morning that with Sacoolas’ guilty plea, they now feel like they can “go back to some type of real happiness.”
“I vowed I’d bring him justice,” Ms. Charles added. So hearing that guilty plea three years later is nearly unfathomable. the release of stress you’ve been holding onto without even realizing it. You sag your shoulders.
“You didn’t even anticipate the many, many quiet tears to fall because you don’t even imagine that moment would occur,” said each of us. It was incredible.
In August 2019, Harry was murdered after his motorcycle collided with a vehicle that was traveling the wrong way near a US air base. The driver, Sacoolas, a US citizen, was granted diplomatic protection and sent back to her own country. A request for extradition was denied.
After three years of tenacious advocacy for justice by Ms. Charles and Mr. Dunn, Sacoolas is now scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Ms. Charles referred to her experiences as “a Pandora’s Box of misery.”
We only want to return to a state of genuine happiness.
Since Harry’s passing, the pair has ‘ignored’ Christmas, they said, but the guilty plea has altered everything.
When we received that guilty plea, Ms. Charles said, “I was finally able to look up and tell Harry that we had succeeded.” I’ve fulfilled my pledge. Christmas may finally be celebrated this year. A genuine tree is an option. The gifts may be repositioned below it.
The last three Christmases, we have just ignored it and pretended they didn’t exist. As a result, it has been just another trying day, like any other.
I believe we will be able to smile this year since we will celebrate Christmas.
Tim said that he says “Good morning, my son” to a photo of Harry every day. It kind of keeps me going, he said of his greeting. He’s always in my life, so in a sense it’s me not letting go. I fear that this will eventually go away. That shouldn’t go away,’
Sacoolas will be sentenced during the week of November 28 and might spend up to five years behind bars. Saccolas’s plea to the lower crime was accepted, according to Mr. Dunn’s family, because they “didn’t want to remove her from her children.”
Sacoolas has been ordered to appear in person at her sentencing hearing, but if she stays in the US, she could escape going to prison.
On October 20, Ms. Charles said she ‘of course’ wanted the ambassador to come back to the UK for the hearing while speaking outside of court.
The three-year fight for responsibility for the collision by Mr. Dunn’s family, who were present in court, finally came to a conclusion on October 20 with the hearing.
On August 27, 2019, the ambassador had been traveling on the incorrect side of the road. She struck the boy as he rode his motorcycle in the other way.
Sacoolas made a video link appearance in Court One of the Old Bailey this afternoon for a plea and case management hearing.
The defendant, who is free on unconditional bail, introduced herself before senior court Mrs. Justice Cheema-Grubb and made her arguments.
She leaned forward in her chair as she said “not guilty” when asked how she had pled to the allegation of causing death by reckless driving.
She stuttered over her words before responding, “Guilty,” when asked how she pled guilty to cause death by reckless or imprudent driving.
Ten members of Mr. Dunn’s family and friends were watching in the public gallery when gasps could be heard, and several of them started crying.
As Sacoolas entered a guilty plea, Mr. Dunn’s parents cradled their heads in their hands.
The Crown acknowledges that placing a vulnerable road user in danger may equate to hazardous driving, Mr. Atkinson said in a statement to the court after the crown accepted the plea of causing death by careless driving.
“The mitigating available to this defendant and the balance of justice have been taken into consideration,” the prosecution said.
It has received the greatest degree of consideration.
The Crown believes that the defense of negligent driving causing death is a valid one.
According to Mr. Atkinson, the accusation of causing death by unsafe driving would not go to trial.
Mrs. Justice Cheema-Grubb ruled that the accusation of causing death by reckless driving, which carries the maximum sentence of 14 years, was unsupported by any evidence and ordered a not guilty finding to be recorded.
“Sentence will be deferred to a suitable date in the week starting 28 November 2022,” she informed Sacoolas.
The court declared that she was powerless to issue an order requiring Sacoolas to come to the UK in order to receive his punishment.
“The degree of regret felt by the defendant is one of the most potent mitigating factors,” the court said.
Attention has rightfully been called to the regret Mrs. Sacoolas has shown by even participating in these proceedings.
“I order Mrs. Sacoolas to appear in court in person to receive her punishment.”
“I remind everyone that this case involves the sad and unexpected death of a young guy who was riding his motorcycle legally and carefully two years ago.
“Mrs. Sacoolas’s personal presence and her submission to the court for sentencing will give significant proof indeed of real regret,” says the judge.
Sacoolas claimed to comprehend.
Prior to Sacoolas’ upcoming sentence, which is scheduled for the week of November 28, the court granted her bail.
Charlotte Charles, the mother of Harry, told the PA news agency after the hearing that Sacoolas needed to “do what you and I would have to do” in order to deal with the UK legal system because they had to “rely” on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to follow “whatever process they felt was appropriate.”
Mrs. Charles said, “Absolutely,” when asked whether she was pleased that the CPS had accepted the plea to the lesser charge of causing death by reckless driving.
“From day one, in addition to keeping that commitment to Harry, we wanted to ensure that she did what you and I would have to do before we ever realized she had left the country.
We declared right away that we didn’t want to keep her away from her kids. They are not at blame. Some of them were in the vehicle that night with her.
I’m at a loss for words when I think of the nightmares they must have had ever since because, based on what little we do know, it was horrifying.
For their sake, we were more than delighted that it was a distant procedure. They have constantly been at the front of our minds.
“Her children are still essential when you’re a mother and you realize that you always want to be there to safeguard your children,” she said.
So, all we had to do was put our trust in the legal system—which is something we’ve always done. And we had to depend on them to follow whatever procedure they deemed appropriate.
“We’ve never invested any time, thought, or effort thinking about it,” the author says. We simply appreciate accountability.