CIA officer who killed British teen receives sentence – but she won’t serve a day in jail

American spy base at RAF Croughton


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Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Anne Sacoolas has been sentenced for killing British teenager Harry Dunn. The American was given an eight-month suspended sentence. In August 2019 she hit Dunn, who was on a moped, outside the US spy base at Royal Air Force (RAF) Croughton in Northamptonshire. Sacoolas had been driving on the wrong side of the road.

For three years, Dunn’s family fought for justice. Sacoolas left the UK quickly after the death and, despite the judge’s request, did not attend the sentencing in person. The case has led to questions over the nature of the US-UK extradition treaty. According to some, the Sacoolas trial also has implications for the case of jailed Wikileaks editor Julian Assange.

CIA no-show

It was reported that the CIA itself had advised Sacoolas not to attend the sentencing:

Tory MP David Davis tweeted that Sacoolas should have been made to attend, and that there were serious issues with the current extradition arrangements:

Injustice

Meanwhile, Declassified UK’s Phil Miller made an important comparison with Julian Assange, who has been in a British jail without charge for three years after exposing war crimes:

Stella Assange, campaigner and wife of Julian Assange, lamented the injustice of the outcome:

Anthropologist Philip Proudfoot said this was the time to rip up the existing UK-US extradition treaty:

And barrister Adam Wagner blamed the US for not honouring its end of the supposedly mutual treaty:

There is clearly an imbalance in the extradition treaty with the US. The ‘special relationship’ between the UK and US is often used to justify all manner of nefarious activities – but these days it looks very threadbare indeed. This is something the Dunn family, who campaigned so hard on behalf of their late son, have demonstrated with the result of Anne Sacoolas’s trial. As the Guardian reported, the judge in the case acknowledged that the Dunn family’s campaign for justice was one of the reasons Sacoolas acknowledged her guilt. Harry’s mother Charlotte Charles said it was time “for us to grieve now and time for us to start celebrating Harry.”

Whether this case will influence that of Julian Assange for the better remains to be seen. However, it is clear that the relationship between the British and American governments is sorely in need of change.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/David Luther Thomas.

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  • Show Comments

    1. The US and CIA officials who discussed ASSASSINATING the UK-based journalist Assange, are still free to enter and leave the UK.

      It’s fairly obvious to see two things:

      That poodles don’t tell their owners what to do, and
      What the so-called “Rules Based Order” looks like in terms of Rule of Law.

      In fact, the “Rules Based Order” looks REMARKABLY like what happens WITHOUT a Rule of Law.

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