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Date | 27 August 2019 |
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Time | 20:25 BST |
Location | B4031 road near RAF Croughton |
Cause | Road traffic collision |
Deaths | Harry Dunn |
Burial | 17 September 2019 |
Inquiries | Northamptonshire Police |
Convicted | Anne Sacoolas |
Charges |
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Sentence | 8 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for 12 months |
Harry Dunn was a 19-year-old British man who died following a road traffic collision on 27 August 2019. He was riding his motorcycle near Croughton, Northamptonshire, near the exit to RAF Croughton, when a car travelling in the opposite direction and on the wrong side of the road collided with him. The car was driven by Anne Sacoolas, who was working for the United States Intelligence Community at the time of the collision;[1] she is married to CIA employee Jonathan Sacoolas, stationed at the time at USAF listening station RAF Croughton.[2][3][4][5] Sacoolas admitted that she had been driving the car on the wrong side of the road, and the police said that, based on CCTV footage, they believed that to be true. Dunn was pronounced dead at the Major Trauma Centre of John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
The collision caused diplomatic tension between British and American officials. Sacoolas fled Britain soon after the incident and claimed diplomatic immunity with American support.[4] On 20 October 2022 she pleaded guilty at a British court to causing the death of Harry Dunn by careless driving.[6] On 8 December 2022, she was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for 12 months. She had not attended the sentencing in person on the advice of the US government, despite the request of the judge.
The court was told Ms Sacoolas fled the UK due to "issues of security" and had not returned because she feared she "would not have a fair trial" because of the "media attention".