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Sacoolas, 45, previously pleaded guilty to “careless driving” resulting in the death of British teenager Harry Dunn.
The case caused a rift between the United States and Britain, as Sakulas – who was married to a US intelligence officer and may have been himself – was deported three weeks after the crash, with the US government claiming diplomatic immunity for him. had done Her and Britain’s extradition requests were denied.
Negotiations between the parties led to the first case in the United Kingdom where a defendant participated via video link in lieu of extradition. But while the case was unprecedented, many of its features, particularly the sensitivity surrounding her employment status, made it unlikely to set a precedent.
In the courtroom on Thursday, Sakulas’ British attorney, Ben Cooper, delivered a statement from his client apologizing for her “tragic mistake”.
“I live with this regret every day. There is not a day that goes by that Harry is not on my mind, and I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused,” the lawyer read, according to reporters inside the courtroom.
Justice Bobby Cheema-Grub criticized Sakulas for not appearing in person for sentencing, saying there was “little reason” for her not to show up at the Old Bailey “in a case where a young man met his death.”
Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles, was scathing, telling reporters afterwards: “I think it’s despicable that she didn’t come to the judge’s order. Colossal coward.”
But Charles said she was satisfied the case had progressed through the British justice system and that “Annie Sakoulas has a criminal record for the rest of her life.”
When Charles spoke from the witness box Thursday, Sakoulas, watching from a distance, wiped her eyes, according to reporters in the courtroom, while talking about how she was “shaken to the point of breaking.”
The suspended sentence avoids the difficult question of where Sakulas would have served prison time — although the court could modify the sentence if he was involved in another fatal crash in the next 12 months.
A family spokesman, Rod Seager, insisted: “The real enemy here is not Ms Sakulas — we know she made a mistake that night. Our real enemy is the US government.
Sakulas’ lawyer told the court that his client had not sought diplomatic immunity – suggesting it was the US State Department that had intervened.
Sacoolas had recently traveled to Britain when, on August 27, 2019, she drove her Volvo SUV on the wrong side of a rural road for 20 seconds and collided with Dunn, 19, who was on a motorcycle.
She was in the car with her children, returning home from a barbecue at 8:20 p.m. She had not been drinking. She was not speeding. He remained at the scene. She called for help. She cooperated with the police.
On Thursday, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said that after the “horrific” accident, Sakulas appeared to be in shock, holding her head in her hands after realizing what she had done. Her vehicle’s air bags deployed.
The victim lay on the side of the road and pleaded with first responders: “Don’t let me die.”
Three weeks after the crash, she fled the country and returned home to northern Virginia, while US officials claimed diplomatic immunity on her behalf.
Initial reports referred to her as a “diplomat’s wife” and said her husband, Jonathan Sakulas, served as a US intelligence officer stationed at the Royal Air Force Base at Crowton.
The intrigue deepened last year in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., when her attorney asserted that both Sakolases were “employed by the United States intelligence agency, and that’s why she quit.”
Dunn’s grieving parents were outraged that she had escaped justice. The case was picked up by British tabloids. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped Sakulas would return to Britain to face justice.
Then, in October 2019, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn found themselves invited to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump.
They said they would have met with anyone willing to help at that time. But Showman Trump has his own way of doing things.
While they were in the Oval Office, he surprised Dunn’s parents by telling them that Sakulas was in the next room and wanted to meet. “He said, ‘Let’s do some therapy,'” Charles said in an interview with The Washington Post. He wanted no part of it, insisting that the case be dealt with in the British justice system.
In December 2019, British police filed criminal charges of “causing death by dangerous driving”.
But how to act on Sakolas? The British government requested extradition. The Trump administration said no.
President Biden will also be involved in this case. His administration said early in his term that it would not reconsider extradition for Sakulas. But Johnson said he raised it with Biden during the Group of Seven summit in Britain in June 2021.
Biden, whose first wife and daughter were killed in a car crash, expressed “a lot of sympathy,” Johnson said. But the American president ultimately remained unmoved.
So the parties eventually agreed to proceed by allowing Sacoolas to appear via videolink from the United States.
While other defendants in criminal cases in Britain have been allowed to appear by video, particularly during the pandemic, most of them have done so from inside British prisons.
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