US citizen Anne Sacoolas handed suspended sentence for causing death of British teenager Harry Dunn

[Judi Lynn]

Source: CNN

By Amy Cassidy, Ivana Kottasová and Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN
Updated 12:44 PM EST, Thu December 8, 2022

London
CNN
—
American citizen Anne Sacoolas was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, at the Old Bailey in London for causing the death of British teenager Harry Dunn in a fatal traffic collision in August 2019, meaning she will not have to go to jail.

Sacoolas pleaded guilty in October to causing death by careless driving, punishable by up to five years in prison.

She admitted to driving on the wrong side of the road when she hit the 19-year-old motorcyclist outside a US military base in England, where her husband worked as a US diplomat.

Harry Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles, who has spent more than three years campaigning for justice for her son, told the court that the family was determined his death “will not be in vain.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/uk/anne-sacoolas-sentencing-harry-dunn-death-intl-gbr/index.html

[Mysterian]

1. No jail time for killing a person

Frightening.

[melm00se]

2. Its common here in the US

if you know any bikers, ask them, they'll tell you about folks turning left in front of or right thru a biker and the offender catching just a ticket or, at worst, a misdemeanor what gets pleaded down to a violation.

[NYC Liberal]

3. If you want to kill someone, just do it with your car.

I also like how she didn’t kill him, she “caused his death.”

[Sneederbunk]

4. Want?

[frogmarch]

5. What does

"eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months" mean?

[FredGarvin]

7. It means she can remain free in the US no jail

She apparently has connections.

[Emrys]

13. It means she has to stay out of trouble with the law for 12 months

or she faces the sentence of 8 months' imprisonment in addition to any sentence for her later crime.

She was also banned from driving for a year.

Both sentences are bit ludicrous because she's not resident in the UK, so unless she visits, any crime she may commit that might trigger the suspended sentence won't fall under UK jurisdiction. The driving ban also only applies to the UK. So, although she might feel some anguish and genuine remorse, she gets a slap on the wrist and a British police record, and that's all.

[Warpy]

6. Good that she was finally sentenced

I hope she loses her international driver's license for good, she needs to.

I understand the need for diplomatic immunity for family members, expulsion being the only remedy if they commit serious crimes. Having a video trial and guilty plea followed by a suspended sentence is actually more than she could have been compelled to do by either country.

It always feels unfair to victims of crimes and their families when perps are expelled instead of tried and jailed. Long experience with diplomacy in less civilized countries has taught us that corrupt governments don't shrink from imprisoning families on false charges to pressure diplomats. There's a good reason behind the unfairness of it all.

[malthaussen]

8. This is true, but Britain hardly counts as a "corrupt government,"

... although it's getting there. That there is no flexibility in the system is a bug, not a feature.

-- Mal

[Warpy]

11. Nope, but diplomatic immunity extending to family is universal

because governments have been known to change radically and quickly.

I think it was resolved this way precisely because the UK government is still trustworthy, although it won't be unless they stop voting for all those damned Tories.

[GoneOffShore]

14. There is no 'International Driving Licence' - One is issued a driving licence by one's home country

The 'International Driving Licence' is a document that is merely a translation of your state issued licence. It has no legal standing as a state document ('state' here meaning 'government').

I had to exchange my Pennsylvania licence for a French 'permis' within my first year of residence in France. When I lived in the UK, I had to pass the driving test there after 6 months.

Perhaps you mean that her privilege to drive in the US should be suspended. This would prevent her from driving anywhere, legally.

[republianmushroom]

9. if you are connected.

The motto " no person is above the law" . Got it.

[FakeNoose]

10. They gave her diplomatic immunity, am I right?

I hope this can be rectified by a civil lawsuit in civil court.

It's not the same thing, but at least the parents would receive some justice.

[James48]

12. It is a very high profile case.

There were allegations she was actually a working CIA agent or something like that- and that her husband was working for intel somehow. It was all a very big mess.