‘Harry we’ve done it’: Harry Dunn’s family respond to sentencing of Anne Sacoolas

Harry Dunn’s family have shared their reaction to the sentencing of Anne Sacoolas today (December 8), which marked the end of their three-year battle for justice.

The American was given an eight-month suspended jail sentence at the Old Bailey after Harry, 19, died after his motorcycle was in a collision with a car driven by Mrs Sacoolas.

This happened near a US military intelligence base at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in 2019, and has been followed by a three-year battle for justice by Harry’s family.

Harry’s mum, Charlotte Charles, spoke outside the Old Bailey and when asked how she felt, she said: “Job done. Promise complete properly now. Anne Sacoolas has a criminal record for the rest of her life. That was something she and the US Government never thought they’d see.

“We’ve worked tirelessly and relentlessly to make sure she, in the end, still had to do what you and I would have had to have done. Harry, we’ve done it and we’re good.”

Charlotte says the family would have been “happy with any sentence” as for them it was “all about doing the right thing and getting through the UK justice system”.

Mrs Sacoolas is now prepared to meet with the family and Charlotte said “it is too little too late” and the family’s spokesperson, Radd Sieger, added that “she had the chance to do the right thing”.

“You don’t wait three years and put the family though torture and then try to do the right thing when it’s going to make you look good,” said Radd. “She will have to live with what she has done. We have to live without Harry. Our conscience is clear.”

Charlotte began again and said: “This has broken us. You can never put into words how bad things are but you have to keep going. You can’t give up. We have to show we can live our lives again somehow.”

She described reading her statement as “absolute hell” and she “knew she was not going to be able to do it”, but says it “had to be done”.

Harry’s mother also said Mrs Sacoolas “should have been there” in person today (December 8) and described it as “despicable” that she was not.

“She’s a coward,” said Charlotte. “We didn’t back down as we have values. Maybe she doesn’t.”

Speaking first outside the Old Bailey, Radd said: “We’ve just come out of what has to be one of the most extraordinary legal cases in English history. It’s incredible.

“I want to pay tribute to the courage of Harry’s parents. We all heard what the judge said – the calm, dignified but persistent way they have campaigned for justice for their son is unprecedented and I’m in awe of them.

“The sentence is everything we expected. Mrs Sacoolas was trying to persuade the court she should be allowed to do some sort of community service – scrub toilets or clean graffiti. That is not how we do things after the death of somebody in criminal circumstances.

“Our real enemy here is not Mrs Sacoolas. We know she made a mistake that night and I dare say all of us have made mistakes on the road, but we know she didn’t intend to kill Harry.

“Our real enemy here is the US Government, who after Harry’s death instead of doing the right thing for his family, decided to kick them in the stomach and continue to kick them for three years. If it weren’t for their friends, community, the media and the great British and American public helping us, they would have gotten away with it. I don’t understand why the American Government would behave in this way.

“We are absolutely determined to make sure this never happens to a British family again.”

This was followed by a friend of Harry’s, Isaac Sieger, who is the son of Radd, who grew up with him throughout nursery, primary and secondary school.

He said: “Harry was a great person who was very caring and was taken too soon driving perfectly safely on the right side of the road.

“The way the US Government has treated this family is with utter disdain. All the family wanted to do was hear an apology and a mere explanation of what happened. Charlotte never wanted to take Anne Sacoolas away from her kids.

“A message to the US Government from the younger generation is you’re not our friend. This is not how allies treat one another. This has turned into a massive international dispute.

“I spend time with the family on a daily basis and what they have to go through is awful and unacceptable.”

Isaac went on to say this is “not an isolated incident” and for the US Government to “watch this space” as he and his team are “focusing on exposing them and fighting them from every corner”.

The family ended by saying it is going to take “an awful long time” for this to sink in, because of the pace of the campaign work they have been doing.

Charlotte said: “We are going to leave the campaign in the capable hands of Radd and Isaac. Watch this space.”

An inquest has not yet happened and will take place some time next year, and a parliamentary inquiry is still to come.