Wednesday 2 November 2022 01:25 PM Harry Dunn's parents say their son's US diplomat killer Anne Sacoolas must ... trends now

The parents of tragic teenager Harry Dunn have a called on the motorist who struck him to return to the UK for her sentencing. 

19-year-old Harry died in August 2019, when he was struck by a car driven by US diplomat's wife Anne Sacoolas outside RAF Croughton, a US military base in Northamptonshire.

On October 20, 45-year-old Sacoolas finally admitted responsibility for Harry's death in a hearing at the Old Bailey, which she attended remotely from the US - drawing gasps from the public gallery.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, the parents of Harry, today told ITV's This Morning they finally feel they can 'get back to some sort of true happy' after Sacoolas entered the guilty plea.

Ms Charles said: 'I promised I'd get him justice… so three years on, to hear that guilty plea, it's almost indescribable. The release of tension you don't even realise you're holding onto. Your shoulders come down. 

'The many many silent tears that fell down every one of our faces you didn't even expect to come because you don't even dream that moment is going to happen. It was amazing.'

Harry was killed when his motorbike collided with a car driving on the wrong side of the road near a US air base in August 2019, with the driver, Sacoolas, a US citizen, given diplomatic immunity and returned to her home country. An extradition request was turned down.

Now, after Ms Charles and Mr Dunn's tireless campaigning for justice for three years, Sacoolas is due to be sentenced later this month.  

Of what she's been through, Ms Charles described it as 'a Pandora's Box of hell'. 

'We just hope we can get back to some sort of true happy.'

The couple explained how they've 'ignored' Christmas since Harry's death, but the guilty plea has changed everything.

Ms Charles added: 'When we got that guilty plea, for me it was able to look up and say, "Harry, we've done it". My promise is complete. We can do Christmas this year now. We can have a real tree. We can put the presents back under it.

'The last three Christmases we've just pushed it aside and pretend it's not happening, and it's just been another painful day that you have to get through like every other day.

'I think this year we are going to be able to smile - we are going to do Christmas.'

Tim shared that he speaks to a picture of Harry, wishing him 'Good morning, my boy' each day. He explained of his greeting: 'It sort of keeps me going. It's me not letting go in a way, he's always in my life. I think I dread the time that will sort of fade. I don't want that to fade.' 

Sacoolas is due for sentencing in the week commencing November 28 and faces up to five years in prison. Mr Dunn's family said they accepted Saccolas's plea to the lesser charge as they 'didn't wish to separate her from her children'.

Sacoolas has been ordered to attend her sentencing hearing in person, but may avoid jail if she remains in the US. 

Speaking outside court on October 20, Ms Charles said she 'of course' wants the diplomat to return to the UK for the hearing.