Harry Dunn’s mum tells inquest her ‘heart is broken’
JUSTICEFORHARRY19The parents of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn have been paying tribute to him at the inquest into his death.
The hearing began nearly five years after Mr Dunn, 19, was hit outside US airbase RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire by a car driven by US government employee Anne Sacoolas.
His parents told the inquest his family had “one hell of a fight on our hands to survive” and the “world is a lesser place without him”.
Sacoolas, who was on the wrong side of the road when the crash happened, has declined an invitation from the Northamptonshire coroner, Anne Pember, to give evidence via video link.
Mr Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles said she was “unspeakably hurt” by the absence of Sacoolas, which she described as “utterly incomprehensible”.
Sacoolas left the country after the crash in 2019, claiming diplomatic immunity.
She was eventually sentenced, via video link, to eight months in prison, suspended for a year, for causing death by careless driving.
On the first day of the hearing in Northampton, Mr Dunn’s parents chose to deliver “pen portraits” of their son to the coroner.
Ms Charles said: “He was sensitive… outspoken, brutally honest, decisive and spontaneous.
“My heart is as broken as it is ever going to get knowing that Harry was dying in agony in the ditch on the side of the road.”
She went on to describe how she tried to preserve as much as possible of her life with her son, by leaving his bike jacket on the bedroom door and leaving his toothbrush in the bathroom.
She added: “As a family, we have obviously been through a lot since Harry died and had one hell of a fight on our hands to survive.”
Ms Charles invited the coroner to ask why road safety outside US bases “may have been neglected” by governments on both sides of the Atlantic.
Mr Dunn’s father, Tim Dunn, said there would be “No more Harry, no more hearing him laugh, no more of his cheeky grin, no more days at the football.
“He would have given so much love, joy and happiness.
“The saddest thing is that the world is a lesser place without him.”
The inquest continues and is expected to last for four days.
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