U.K. police slammed for not arresting U.S. diplomat's wife in fatal crash

Independent review criticizes UK police for failing to arrest US diplomat's wife after fatal accident in 2019.

An independent review in Britain criticised police on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) for failing to arrest a U.S. diplomat's wife after she killed a British teenager in a car accident before fleeing the country in 2019.

The accident in which Harry Dunn, 19, died became a diplomatic issue between the U.K. and the United States, leading to his family meeting U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

Anne Sacoolas, who was driving on the wrong side of the road outside the U.S. military base at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, claimed in the ensuing days to have diplomatic immunity.

Ms. Sacoolas, whose husband was an intelligence official and has herself been reported to have been a CIA operative, left Britain soon after hitting Dunn on his motorbike in the August 2019 accident.

The review, commissioned by Northamptonshire's chief constable, Ivan Balhatchet, said the decision not to arrest her was partly based on "information received that Anne Sacoolas was in shock".

"While the welfare of any person is a concern for officers, this should not have prevented the arrest of Anne Sacoolas," it said.

The review said officers made the decision believing Dunn's injuries to be survivable and that had this not been the case they would have made an arrest.