Anne Sacoolas to face criminal trial in UK over death of Harry Dunn

The US citizen Anne Sacoolas is due to face criminal proceedings in the UK, charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of the 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn.

The 44-year-old is accused of killing the teenager in a road crash outside the US military base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27 August 2019.

The Crown Prosecution Service then sought an extradition warrant to bring her back to the UK to stand trial, but the US state department adamantly refused to grant her extradition, insisting that her status as the wife of a serving US diplomat meant she was not required to stand trial. The US confirmed she had been an intelligence officer.

She was living at RAF Croughton at a base that was in effect run by the Americans. Her husband was an intelligence official, and the family had been in the UK for only a few weeks when the accident happened.

At one point, Radd Seiger, the chief campaigner for the Dunn family, was told he had a 1% chance of success.

Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government following the collision, and was able to leave the UK 19 days after the incident. The Foreign Office appeared to accept it could not prevent her departure.

The Dunn family have always said they wanted her to face justice in the UK, and it is not clear what would happen if she was found guilty or whether she would serve a sentence or pay any fine in the US.

The Sacoolas family have made various offers of compensation and statements of regret, but they have not satisfied the Dunn family.