Death of Harry Dunn

Harry Dunn was a 19-year-old British man who died following a head-on road traffic collision on 27 August 2019. He was riding his motorcycle near Croughton, Northamptonshire, near the exit to RAF Croughton, when a car travelling in the opposite direction and on the wrong side of the road collided with him. The car was driven by Anne Sacoolas, who was working for the United States Intelligence Community at the time of the collision; she is married to CIA employee Jonathan Sacoolas, stationed at the time at USAF listening station RAF Croughton. Sacoolas admitted that she had been driving the car on the wrong side of the road, and the police said that, based on CCTV footage, they believed that to be true. Dunn was pronounced dead at the Major Trauma Centre of John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

The collision caused diplomatic tension between British and American officials. Sacoolas fled Britain soon after the incident and claimed diplomatic immunity with American support. Dunn's parents visited the White House on 15 October 2019 to meet with "a senior official" but, to their surprise, were met by President Donald Trump. On 20 October 2022, at the Old Bailey in London, Sacoolas pleaded guilty, via video link, to causing the death of Harry Dunn by careless driving. On 8 December 2022, she was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for 12 months. She had not attended the sentencing in person on the advice of the US government, despite the request of the judge.

An independent review, published on 18 June 2025, criticised the senior leadership of Northamptonshire Police for their handling of the case, with a following statement from Assistant Chief Constable Emma James apologising to Dunn's family. On 19 June the family submitted a formal complaint over the conduct of former Chief Constable Nick Adderley for multiple failures, including giving inaccurate public statements about the legal immunity of Sacoolas.