A mum whose son was killed by an American driving on the wrong side of the road has spoken of her “unspeakably hurt” that she has refused to give live evidence to his inquest.
The inquest into Harry Dunn's death heard today that Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember issued a request to US government employee Anne Sacoolas last year inviting her to attend remotely.
Today the hearing heard the invite “has not been taken up” a decision his mother, Charlotte Charles, described as “incomprehensible” and “disrespectful”. Mrs Sacoolas’s evidence will now be read to the court tomorrow, which is set to include a “significant statement” from her, sections of her police interview in October 2019 and her witness statement penned in December last year.
The Dunn family was informed of her refusal to give live evidence on Thursday, just four days before the inquest was due to begin. Today, Mrs Charles delivered a pen portrait of her son, in which she addressed Sacoolas’s decision not to attend the inquest.
She said: “I wanted to say that learning that Anne Sacoolas will not be attending Harry’s inquest this week was bitterly disappointing and, as a mother, is utterly incomprehensible to me. She could have chosen to give me and our family this opportunity to finally understand what led to Harry’s death that night. But no.
“I am unspeakably hurt that she has chosen to hide instead and it cannot help but feel disrespectful to Harry, the life he had and the future he lost.”
Counsel to the inquest, Briony Ballard, said the coroner could not “force or compel an individual to attend”. She said: “I know that she has been offered remote attendance but again, the coroner does not have any jurisdiction outside of Northamptonshire. That remote offer has not been taken up.
“We have had a witness statement in which she has responded to issues around training. I understand she would be available to answer any written questions.”
Sacoolas’s lawyer, Ben Cooper KC, told a pre-inquest review hearing in November that the US citizen was “keen to assist the inquest”. She was driving a Volvo on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27 2019 before she crashed into Mr Dunn’s bike.
The US State Department asserted diplomatic immunity on behalf of Sacoolas and she was able to leave the UK 19 days after the fatal collision. She appeared before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey via video-link in December 2022, where she pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
Sacoolas was advised against attending her sentencing hearing by her employer, which prompted the family to say they were “horrified” that the US government was “actively interfering in our criminal justice system”.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb handed Sacoolas an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. The Dunn family took its four-year campaign for justice to the US after the teenager’s death, which even led to a meeting with then-president Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC. The inquest, which is scheduled to last for four days, continues.