Anne Sacoolas pleaded guilty on Thursday on charges of careless driving after striking British teenager Harry Dunn while driving on the wrong side of the road near a military base in the United Kingdom, BBC News reports.
Sacoolas, who previously claimed diplomatic immunity due to her husband’s status as a U.S. intelligence officer based at Royal Air Force Croughton at the time, left the U.K. after the incident. She appeared in court on Thursday via videolink from the U.S., which is allowed by legislation introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by careless driving, a lesser charge than the initial charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
The judge presiding over the case also ordered: “that Mrs. Sacoolas attends court in person to be sentenced.”
The maximum sentence for causing death by careless driving in the U.K. is five years in prison, but more often community punishment or a suspended jail sentence is handed down.
Charlotte Charles, Dunn’s mother, told BBC News that she and her family "didn't wish to separate her from her children, it's not their fault".
She added that "Getting to court and getting to where we are now has been the most monumental thing for me because I can talk to [Harry] now and tell him we've done it, promise complete.”
Charles said, "I feel I can breathe easier. I don't have that guilt on my shoulders of not having done it yet."
Dunn’s father, Tim Dunn, added that "Hopefully we've given hope to other families that they can do the same as us and get justice and believe and fight because it will happen in the end, it will happen."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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