I don't think an 8 month suspended sentence will feel like justice.
Harry Dunn: Anne Sacoolas gets suspended jail term for fatal crash
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A US citizen responsible for the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for 12 months.
Anne Sacoolas, 45, was driving on the wrong side of the road when her car hit Mr Dunn, 19, outside a US military base in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
Sacoolas appeared via video-link at the hearing at the Old Bailey in London.
Mr Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, said her "promise" to get justice for her son "is well and truly complete".
She had previously admitted causing his death by careless driving at a hearing at same court in October.
Sacoolas was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Following the crash, Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US administration and left the UK 19 days later, leading to a transatlantic row.
The sentencing brings a legal resolution to Mr Dunn's family after a three-year wait for justice.
"That was something she never thought she'd see, something the US government never thought they'd see.
"Harry we done it. We're good, we're good."
The teenager's father, Tim Dunn, added: "It's been such a relentless time, we as a family fought off everything we can to get to this point."
The defendant appeared via video-link from the US after her employer, the US government, advised her not to attend the sentencing hearing.
Mrs Charles said her failure to attend the sentencing in person was "despicable", adding she was "absolutely disgusted" by the decision.
Sacoolas was originally charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge.
In her sentencing remarks to Sacoolas, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: "There is no doubt that the calm and dignified persistence of these parents and the family of that young man has led, through three years of heartbreak and effort, to your appearance before the court and the opportunity for you to acknowledge your guilt of a crime."
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court that on 27 August 2019, Sacoolas turned out of RAF Croughton and drove 350 metres (1,148ft) on the wrong side of the road for 26 seconds.
He said she failed to recognise road markings which should have alerted her to this error.
Mr Atkinson said: "Neither driver appeared to have seen or reacted to the other."
When a female witness reached the scene, Sacoolas said to her: "It's all my fault. I was on the wrong side of the road. I have only been here a couple of weeks."
The witness then rushed over to Harry, realising there was a casualty, and he said: "Don't let me die."
When the police arrived, Sacoolas was said to be co-operative but in total shock, with her head in her hands.
She confirmed it had been her fault, Mr Atkinson said.
He said she told police she was on what she called "the American side" of the road, from the base to the brow of the hill where the collision occurred.
Charlotte Charles, Mr Dunn's mother, read her victim impact statement in court. She was in tears and as she began to speak, while Sacoolas wiped her eyes with a tissue.
She said it was a "privilege and joy" to raise her son who, along with his twin had been the "light of my life".
She said: "I don't know how I am ever going to get over it. It is almost impossible to describe. I struggle to sleep.
"I have been shaken to the point of breaking. 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. I just want to wrap my arms around him."
Speaking about Harry's twin, Niall, she told the court: "He's not the proud young man he was in 2019. He is a shell of himself."
British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, paid tribute to the "incredible resolve" of Harry Dunn's family.
"Anne Sacoolas has finally been sentenced in a British court," Mr Cleverly said in a statement.
He added her appearance via video-link was "the most viable way to bring the case to court and give justice to Harry's family".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-63891657
Anne Sacoolas, 45, was driving on the wrong side of the road when her car hit Mr Dunn, 19, outside a US military base in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
Sacoolas appeared via video-link at the hearing at the Old Bailey in London.
Mr Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, said her "promise" to get justice for her son "is well and truly complete".
She had previously admitted causing his death by careless driving at a hearing at same court in October.
Sacoolas was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Following the crash, Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US administration and left the UK 19 days later, leading to a transatlantic row.
The sentencing brings a legal resolution to Mr Dunn's family after a three-year wait for justice.
- LIVE: Sacoolas gets suspended sentence over Harry Dunn death
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"That was something she never thought she'd see, something the US government never thought they'd see.
"Harry we done it. We're good, we're good."
The teenager's father, Tim Dunn, added: "It's been such a relentless time, we as a family fought off everything we can to get to this point."
The defendant appeared via video-link from the US after her employer, the US government, advised her not to attend the sentencing hearing.
Mrs Charles said her failure to attend the sentencing in person was "despicable", adding she was "absolutely disgusted" by the decision.
Sacoolas was originally charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge.
In her sentencing remarks to Sacoolas, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: "There is no doubt that the calm and dignified persistence of these parents and the family of that young man has led, through three years of heartbreak and effort, to your appearance before the court and the opportunity for you to acknowledge your guilt of a crime."
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court that on 27 August 2019, Sacoolas turned out of RAF Croughton and drove 350 metres (1,148ft) on the wrong side of the road for 26 seconds.
He said she failed to recognise road markings which should have alerted her to this error.
'All my fault'
She then hit Mr Dunn, who was riding his motorbike on the correct side of the road.Mr Atkinson said: "Neither driver appeared to have seen or reacted to the other."
When a female witness reached the scene, Sacoolas said to her: "It's all my fault. I was on the wrong side of the road. I have only been here a couple of weeks."
The witness then rushed over to Harry, realising there was a casualty, and he said: "Don't let me die."
When the police arrived, Sacoolas was said to be co-operative but in total shock, with her head in her hands.
She confirmed it had been her fault, Mr Atkinson said.
He said she told police she was on what she called "the American side" of the road, from the base to the brow of the hill where the collision occurred.
Charlotte Charles, Mr Dunn's mother, read her victim impact statement in court. She was in tears and as she began to speak, while Sacoolas wiped her eyes with a tissue.
She said it was a "privilege and joy" to raise her son who, along with his twin had been the "light of my life".
She said: "I don't know how I am ever going to get over it. It is almost impossible to describe. I struggle to sleep.
"I have been shaken to the point of breaking. 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. I just want to wrap my arms around him."
Speaking about Harry's twin, Niall, she told the court: "He's not the proud young man he was in 2019. He is a shell of himself."
British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, paid tribute to the "incredible resolve" of Harry Dunn's family.
"Anne Sacoolas has finally been sentenced in a British court," Mr Cleverly said in a statement.
He added her appearance via video-link was "the most viable way to bring the case to court and give justice to Harry's family".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-63891657
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