Review finds ‘clear and significant shortcomings” in investigation into Harry Dunn’s death

Assistant Chief Constable Emma James, who has overseen delivery of the report, said the review would make “very difficult reading”, but hoped it would provide some answers for the family.

She apologised to Harry’s family for “a failure on our part to do the very best for the victim in this case”.

The 19-year-old died as a result of injuries suffered when his motorcycle was in collision with a car driving on the wrong side of the road, outside RAF Croughton in the south of the county, on the evening of Tuesday, August 27, 2019.

The American woman driving the car, Anne Sacoolas, subsequently returned to the US prompting Harry’s family to launch of the Justice for Harry campaign which eventually led to her being convicted of causing death by careless driving in December 2022.

Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet commissioned the ‘exhaustive’ 118-page report, published on Wednesday (June 18), which looks at every aspect of the police investigation and makes a total of 38 separate recommendations, at least six of which will be put to the National Collision Board to be considered for adoption as good practice.

A number of the key officers and staff close to the case were interviewed by the Regional Review Unit’s lead author, a former Head of Major Crime with the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) and what emerges is a highly detailed account of the police investigation up to the point when charges were secured against Sacoolas in December 2019.

Critical to the review was to examine whether the initial police response was proportionate, to review the overall investigation, the structure and roles within it and the approach to policy around the discovery of human tissue on Harry’s clothing many years later and, crucially, to identify key areas of learning from the case.

Under particular scrutiny in the report is a failure of leadership around the investigation, including the decision not to declare it as a critical incident, the lack of a so-called Gold Group structure around it which would have better enabled a more effective approach to coordinating police and partner activity.

There is also rigorous examination of the decision by the force not to have arrested Sacoolas after the crash and, later, not to have informed the family until September 26, 2019, that Sacoolas had left the UK, some ten days after the force was notified.

And there is sharp criticism of the forensic recovery process following the collision which led to the discovery, more than four years later, of human tissue on Harry’s clothing which led to the grieving family holding a second funeral in March 2024.

The independent review is also particularly critical of the role of the former Chief Constable Nick Adderley’s leadership whose comments at a news conference in October 2019 prompted a breakdown of relations with the family followed by a posting some days later of a subsequently deleted post on X (formerly Twitter).

The post led to the family calling for his resignation and was the subject of a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Ms James, the force’s head of Protective Services, said: “First and foremost, on behalf of Northamptonshire Police, I want to apologise to Harry’s family for what is now clear was a failure on our part to do the very best for the victim in this case, Harry, and his family who fought tirelessly in the years that followed to achieve justice for him.

“It’s no surprise that Harry’s mother Charlotte was so deservingly honoured just this last weekend with an MBE for her campaigning work in road safety.

“It was vitally important that Northamptonshire Police conducted this review into the most high-profile case in the force’s history, a case where clear and significant shortcomings have now been properly and independently unearthed.

“The picture which emerges is one of a force which has failed the family on a number of fronts, and we hope the findings, which are troubling in several respects, will provide some answers to questions which the family will have wanted to know in the years that have passed.

“I hope some good comes out of this. Much of the learning which the force has taken from this has already been put in place and we make a number of specific recommendations for best practice at a national level.”

She added: “We have taken a deep look at ourselves and hope the transparent way we have identified failings of the past will go some way to re-building the confidence of Harry’s family and friends going forward as well as the wider public at large.”

Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner Danielle Stone said the purpose of the review was to improve investigations for the future and there are “clear areas of learning for Northamptonshire Police”.

She said: “Harry’s family were profoundly let down when they most needed to have trust in Northamptonshire Police.

“This review shows that the investigators were committed to finding justice for Harry, and they worked with care and dedication to give the family answers. Investigators are singled out for their good work and care for Harry’s family.

“But these police officers and Harry’s family were let down by the most senior leader of that time, whose actions damaged the family’s confidence in Northamptonshire Police.

“I have apologised to Harry’s family – I am dismayed by how they were treated, and I know that no words can make up for the harm caused.

“This report is clear and unflinching. Now it has been published, I will ask the chief constable for assurance that the recommendations are being implemented, so that no other family has the same experience as Harry Dunn’s.”