Yahoo News Harry Dunn: Key events leading to Anne Sacoolas’s sentencing
Following a three-year battle led by Harry Dunn's family, Anne Sacoolas has accepted guilt for Dunn's killing in October at the Old Bailey and is due to receive a sentence today (December 8).
Dunn died following a crash outside a US military base in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
US citizen Sacoolas turned out of RAF Croughton and drove on the wrong side of the road for more than 20 seconds. She hit Dunn, who was riding his motorbike on the correct side of the road.
Sacoolas was protected by diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US administration following the death and left the UK 19 days later.
Although she was charged with Dunn’s death, an extradition request was rejected by the US government, causing a diplomatic row between the two nations.
Three years later, on October 2022, Sacoolas pleaded guilty to causing his death by careless driving, at the Old Bailey, via video link.
The teenager’s mother Charlotte Charles said: “It’s all been about doing the right thing from day one.”
Sacoolas had been urged by judge Justice Cheema-Grubb to return to the UK to face justice on Thursday. But the American woman has been granted permission to appear via video-link again.
Here are the key events following the 19-year-old’s death:
August 27, 2019
Motorcyclist Harry Dunn is involved in a collision with a Volvo outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
He is taken to the John Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford but is pronounced dead soon after arrival.
August 28, 2019
Northamptonshire Police interview 42-year-old suspect Anne Sacoolas in connection with the crash.
August 30, 2019
A briefing note copied to the Foreign Secretary’s private office reveals concerns for potential “very unpalatable headlines”.
Harry Dunn tribute bike ride
September 13, 2019
A UK request to waive the diplomatic immunity claimed by Sacoolas is formally rejected by the US.
September 14, 2019
A senior Foreign Office official sends a text message to their US counterpart saying: “I think that now the decision has been taken not to waive, there’s not much mileage in us asking you to keep the family here. It’s obviously not us approving of their departure but I think you should feel able to put them on the next flight out…”
September 15, 2019
Sacoolas leaves the country on a United States Air Force plane, but the Dunn family is not informed of her departure until three weeks later.
Northamptonshire Police is also not told she has left the UK.
October 4, 2019
Harry’s parents call on US President Donald Trump to intervene and waive immunity for Sacoolas.
October 5, 2019
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urges US ambassador Woody Johnson to waive immunity for Sacoolas.
October 6, 2019
Police write to the US embassy in London to demand immunity is waived.
October 7, 2019
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the US should “reconsider its position” on the immunity given to Sacoolas.
October 9, 2019
Mrs Charles and Mr Dunn attend a meeting with the Foreign Secretary which leaves them “angry and frustrated” and feeling as though it was a “publicity stunt”.
Mr Johnson speaks to Mr Trump personally, to ask him to reconsider the US’s position.
October 12, 2019
Sacoolas breaks her silence and issues a statement through her lawyer, saying the crash left her “devastated”.
October 14, 2019
Mr Dunn’s family hold a press conference in New York after taking their fight for justice to the US.
October 15, 2019
The White House calls an “urgent” meeting with Mr Dunn’s family and they have talks with Mr Trump.
Mrs Charles and Mr Dunn refuse to meet Sacoolas, who is in the room next door when they met Mr Trump.
October 31, 2019
Northamptonshire Police confirm they had interviewed the suspect in the case in the US and were passing the file of evidence to the CPS.
December 20, 2019
The CPS charges Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving.
January 10, 2020
The Home Office submits an extradition request for Sacoolas.
January 23, 2020
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally rejects the extradition request for Sacoolas.
January 24, 2020
The Home Office says the refusal of their extradition request amounts to a “denial of justice”.
The Foreign Secretary said the UK “would have acted differently if this had been a UK diplomat serving in the US”.
May 11, 2020
The family receives an email from Northamptonshire Police saying Sacoolas is “wanted internationally” and there are reports of an Interpol notice being issued for the suspect.
May 12, 2020
The US State Department says the decision not to extradite Sacoolas is “final” after Interpol notice claims.
May 20, 2020
Mr Dunn’s mother calls for Mr Raab’s resignation.
July 22, 2020
Mr Raab announces the “anomaly” which allowed Sacoolas to claim diplomatic immunity following the road crash that killed Mr Dunn has been amended.
August 25, 2020
The Lord Chancellor said Attorney General Suella Braverman was considering the possibility of trying Sacoolas virtually or in her absence.
September 9, 2020
Mr Dunn’s parents file a civil claim against Sacoolas in the US.
September 10, 2020
Sacoolas’s legal representatives admit the suspect had been driving on the wrong side of the road for 20 seconds prior to the crash.
November 24, 2020
Mr Dunn’s parents lose their High Court battle with the Foreign Office over the diplomatic immunity asserted on behalf of Sacoolas.
January 24, 2021
The Foreign Office apologises after “unprofessional and unacceptable language” was used by officials in internal emails about Mr Dunn’s bereaved family.
January 28, 2021
New US President Joe Biden’s administration maintains the position that the decision not to extradite Sacoolas is “final”.
February 4, 2021
The Alexandria District Court in Virginia hears Sacoolas and her husband Jonathan’s work in intelligence was a “factor” in their departure from the UK after the road crash.
March 9, 2021
Sacoolas’s lawyer says the suspect is willing to complete community service.
June 12, 2021
Mr Raab says the UK Government would be seeking a “virtual trial or process” for Sacoolas.
July 2, 2021
Mr Dunn’s parents give evidence under oath in their “depositions” as part of the civil claim for damages filed in the US.
September 21, 2021
Mr Dunn’s parents and Sacoolas reach a “resolution” in the civil claim for damages filed in the US.
September 21, 2021
US President Joe Biden has been “personally trying to move things along” in Sacoolas’s case, then-PM Boris Johnson says following a meeting between the leaders.
September 22, 2021
Ms Dunn’s mother speaks of her “enormous relief” at finding a resolution in a damages claim filed against her son’s alleged killer.
October 20, 2022
A year later, Sacoolas pleads guilty at the Old Bailey, via video-link, to causing his death by careless driving.
December 8, 2022
Sacoolas to receive sentence.
