BRAINTREE MP and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has acknowledged “important lessons” had been learned following the sentencing of Anne Sacoolas.
Sacoolas was sentenced on Thursday at the Old Bailey to eight months in prison suspended for 12 months for causing the death of teenager Harry Dunn by careless driving.
Mr Dunn, 19, was killed when Sacoolas’s Volvo crashed into his motorbike while she was driving on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
The Dunn family spent more than three years campaigning for US citizen Anne Sacoolas to face a UK court – a fight that saw the teenager’s parents change laws and secure a meeting with former US president Donald Trump at the White House.
The 19-year-old’s killer, described by her own lawyer as an employee of the US State Department, was flown out of the UK on the orders of her country’s government after she collided with Mr Dunn’s motorbike while driving on the wrong side of the road in Northamptonshire in August 2019.
Diplomatic immunity was asserted on her behalf by the Trump administration, and she was able to leave the country 19 days after the crash.
But after a “relentless” campaign, Sacoolas, 45, appeared by video link before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey on Thursday.
Mr Cleverly said he hoped the judgment in the Sacoolas case “provides some closure” to the Dunn family and that the Government had “learnt important lessons” around exemptions from diplomatic immunity.
A statement read: “Since Harry’s death in August 2019, we have been clear that Ms Sacoolas should return to the UK to face British justice.
“Since she chose not to, virtual hearings were arranged as the most viable way to bring the case to court and give justice to Harry’s family.
“I want to pay tribute to the incredible resolve of Harry’s family, and I hope that the judgment provides some closure.
“We have learnt important lessons from this tragic incident, including improvements to the process around exemptions from diplomatic immunity and ensuring the US takes steps to improve road safety around RAF Croughton.”
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