LONDON (AP) – An American woman who fled the United Kingdom (UK) claiming diplomatic immunity after she was involved in a fatal traffic accident pleaded guilty on Thursday to causing death by careless driving.
Anne Sacoolas, 45, was charged after an August 2019 accident in which 19-year-old Harry Dunn was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car outside RAF Croughton, an air base in eastern England that is used by United States (US) forces. Prosecutors said Sacoolas was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time.
Sacoolas and her husband, who had been a US intelligence officer at the air base, returned to America days after the accident. The US government invoked diplomatic immunity on her behalf, prompting an outcry in Britain.
The case has caused tensions between the UK and US governments. British politicians have demanded Sacoolas face justice in a British court, but American authorities rejected Britain’s extradition request.
On Thursday, Sacoolas participated in a hearing held at London’s Central Criminal Court by video link from Washington, and admitted responsibility in Dunn’s death. Sacoolas was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but UK prosecutors accepted her plea to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said the fact that she was an “overseas national without experience of driving on the roads of this country” was a factor in considering her culpability.
Death by careless driving carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.
Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Sacoolas that although she could not compel her to face justice in person, it would provide “weighty evidence” of “genuine remorse”. “I direct Ms Sacoolas attend court to be sentenced,” the judge said.
