Police investigating the death of the teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn have apologised for “clear and significant shortcomings” after a scathing review found the force “failed his family on a number of fronts”.
The 118-page report, which examined every aspect of Northamptonshire police’s investigation, found a failure in senior leadership meant a critical incident was not declared when it should have been.
It also criticised the force for not arresting the driver involved, Anne Sacoolas, after the crash, and not informing Dunn’s family she had left the country until 10 days after they were notified she had done so.
The force’s head of protective services, assistant chief constable Emma James, said: “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.”
She said the “picture which emerges” from the review was one of a force that had “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”.
Dunn was 19 years old in 2019 when he was killed after his motorcycle collided with a car driven by Sacoolas, a US citizen who was driving on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton.
Sacoolas returned to the US after Dunn’s death, forcing his family to launch a years-long campaign for justice that resulted in her being convicted of causing death by careless driving in December 2022.
Northamptonshire police’s chief constable, Ivan Balhatchet, commissioned an independent review into how police handled the case after severe criticism from Dunn’s family over a number of years.
The review, published on Wednesday, made 38 separate recommendations, with the former chief constable Nick Adderley coming under particular censure for his communication with the family.
There was also sharp criticism of the forensic recovery process and the discovery more than four years later of human tissue on Harry’s clothing, which led to his family holding a second funeral in March 2024.
The review concluded that Dunn’s family “lost trust and confidence” in the force and that as a “direct result” of Adderley’s actions, the investigation team struggled to rebuild relationships.
Dunn’s mother, Charlotte Charles, said: “Today’s review report confirms what we have known for years, that we were failed by the very people we should have been able to trust.
“Harry was left to die on the roadside. Sacoolas was not arrested, even though the police had every power to do so. She fled the country, and they didn’t tell us. They mishandled vital evidence, including Harry’s clothing, which we now know was left in storage for years with his remains still on it.
“These are failures no family should ever have to endure. I remain so angry at Adderley to this day.”
Adderley was later dismissed for gross misconduct after it was found he had been wearing a Falklands war medal despite being 15 at the time of the conflict.
Northamptonshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner, Danielle Stone, said: “Harry’s family were profoundly let down when they most needed to have trust 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.”
Radd Seiger, a spokesperson for Dunn’s family, said the report “lays bare a series of grave errors” but praised the force for “putting transparency first”. He said: “It marks a real turning point compared to the disastrous and toxic Adderley regime.”
James said: “I hope some good comes out of this. 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 rebuilding the confidence of Harry’s family and friends going forward as well as of the wider public at large.”
