Northamptonshire Police publishes investigative review into the fatal collision which led to the death of Harry Dunn

A full independent review into the way Northamptonshire Police conducted the investigation into the death of teenager Harry Dunn in a fatal collision almost six years ago has been published today (June 18, 2025).

Harry was just 19 when he 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 today’s exhaustive 118-page report 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 co-ordinating 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 10 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).

ACC Emma James, the Force’s Head of Protective Services, who has overseen the delivery of the report, said the review would make very difficult reading, but hoped it would provide some answers for the family.

She 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.

“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.”

Harry’s parents, Charlotte and Tim, met ACC James and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, at a private meeting at Wootton Hall HQ on Monday when they were presented with the report’s findings for the first time.

To read the full report, please click here.