“You can’t take a life and not answer for that”: Harry Dunn’s parents react after Anne Sacoolas pleads guilty in U.K. teen’s road death

For the past several years,  Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn have wanted to be face-to-face with the woman who killed their 19-year-old son, Harry. 

Harry Dunn was riding a motorbike when it collided with a car driving on the wrong side of the road near a U.S. airbase in southern England. The driver, Anne Sacoolas, an American who according to her lawyers was working for a U.S. intelligence agency, left Britain soon afterwards, claiming diplomatic immunity, and hasn’t returned since.  

Last week, a U.K. judge ruled that Sacoolas must travel back to the United Kingdom for her sentencing after she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of careless driving.

Tim Dunn told “CBS Mornings” that the news brought a sensation of shocked feelings.  

“I was completely shocked. I was not expecting that. We were just expecting that it would be done remotely,” he said. “It was just like a pit in my stomach, was just like shock and disbelief. Struggled to breathe. And then, you know, it was amazing and also scary. It was just because I didn’t think I’d ever meet this lady to be honest.” 

Sacoolas faces up to five years in prison but it is unlikely that she will be sentenced to any prison time.

Both Charlotte and Tim have said they do not want Sacoolas to serve any prison time out of respect for her family and children. But they do want her to face them and take some accountability, something which Sacoolas initially refused to do. 

“Whether you kill somebody intentionally or unintentionally, as Anne Sacoolas did, you know, accountability still needs to be had. You can’t just simply decide to walk away and expect us to move forward as a family. We’ve lost everything, we had everything taken from us,” Charles said. 

Dunn’s parents have led a high-profile fight to achieve justice for their son while U.S. authorities refused her extradition. This caused a debate about diplomatic immunity between the United States and the United Kingdom. But Dunn’s parents maintain their fight has always just been about justice for their son. 

“It’s right and wrong. It’s just human nature that you can’t take a life and not answer for that. Nothing to do with U.K, U.S., that’s how it’s panned out. It’s always been about doing the right thing for doing something as we said she didn’t mean to do it, but you must answer for that,” Tim said.  

The Dunn family has prepared a victim’s impact statement for the day that Sacoolas is sentenced. While they know it will be hard for them to read it out loud, the family is ready for closure as they continue to live their life without their son. 

“You know, we miss Harry every minute of every day. The pain that you have to live with is — there are not enough words in the English dictionary to describe that,” Charles said.