A Victory for the Dunn Family
When Harry Dunn was killed in a traffic accident back in August 2019, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for justice. Anne Sacoolas was driving on the wrong side of the road that day in Northamptonshire and has now pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
As a U.S. citizen and the wife of a CIA employee, she was able to leave the country on a US Air Force aircraft after the police had unsuccessfully applied for a diplomatic immunity waiver. Since then Sacoolas has never returned to the UK and it seems unlikely now that she ever will.
This was always the main point of contention in the case. The Dunn family hoped that Sacoolas would (whether voluntarily or not) appear in person before an English court but she would ultimately only appear via video link. The main reason for this appears to be legal advice from the US government against appearing person but sentencing had already been delayed because of threats against Sacoolas on social media.
Today sentencing finally took place as she received an eight-month suspended sentence and a driving disqualification for 12 months.
In many ways that will feel hollow for many who have been following the case. The suspended sentence will never turn into jail time and the driving disqualification means nothing when she does not live in the UK.
That is not a criticism of the judge, Mrs Justice Chema-Grubb, because the sentence was really the only practical solution. While the maximum sentence is five years in prison, the fact that Sacoolas did plead guilty is an important relevant factor alongside the reality that she would never voluntarily surrender herself to a court. In the absence of actual jail time, community service or a suspended sentence are the most common options. The judge was right to point out that English officials had no means of enforcing a community sentence even if it was carried out in the States and so a suspended sentence was the obvious way to go.
In an case this does not appear to be a hollow victory for the Dunn family who are happy with the guilty plea, happy with the sentence, and happy that this nightmare is finally over.
The real issue underlining this case has been the way that diplomatic immunity has operated in a way that so heavily favours Sacoolas. The US government has exerted its authority over this case from the start (as it should do to protect its citizens) and the whole affair has made clear that the UK is very clearly a junior partner in the special relationship.
The foreign secretary has said that lessons have been learned from the case and that more clarity around diplomatic immunity will be available from now on but the truth remains that this is an area of the law where the political reality will tend to take over.
The fate of this case was sealed as soon as Sacoolas stepped on that plane back to the States and the Dunn family should be commended for achieving this semblance of a win in court.