Revealed: Foreign Office diplomat who told the US they should put fugitive spy Anne Sacoolas ‘on the next flight out’ of Britain after Harry Dunn’s death
- Diplomat told US they should ‘feel able’ to put Anne Sacoolas on ‘next flight out’
- Neil Holland sent the text message to a US counterpart last September
- Harry Dunn, 19, was killed in a crash with Ms Sacoolas’s 4×4 outside RAF base
- She admitted to police she caused accident by driving on wrong side of the road
Neil Holland was serving as the Foreign Office’s Director of Protocol and Vice-Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps when he sent the incendiary text message to a US counterpart last September
One of Britain’s top diplomats has been removed from his post after it emerged he told the United States they should ‘feel able’ to put fugitive spy Anne Sacoolas ‘on the next flight out’ of Britain following the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn.
Neil Holland was serving as the Foreign Office’s Director of Protocol and Vice-Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps when he sent the incendiary text message to a US counterpart last September.
It came just two weeks after the 19-year-old was killed in a crash with Ms Sacoolas’s 4×4 outside RAF Croughton, a US spy base in Northamptonshire.
Ms Sacoolas admitted to police she caused the accident by driving on the wrong side of the road.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the Commons this week that the Foreign Office had not ‘acquiesced’ to former CIA agent Sacoolas leaving the UK after The Mail on Sunday last week revealed the existence of the ‘smoking gun’ text message, which suggested she was free to flee.
But the news that its sender has been relieved of duties raises fresh questions for Mr Raab over his handling of the case.
The Foreign Office was forced to disclose secret communications between British and American officials in the days before Sacoolas fled on September 15 last year after the Dunn family launched a legal review into whether Ms Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity.
One of Britain’s top diplomats has been removed from his post after it emerged he told the United States they should ‘feel able’ to put fugitive spy Anne Sacoolas ‘on the next flight out’ of Britain following the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn, pictured above
They said the evidence handed to the High Court by the Foreign Office skewered Mr Raab’s claims that Britain had done all it could to stop Sacoolas leaving.
However, it is understood that even though Mr Holland has left his job liaising with the hundreds of Ambassadors and High Commissioners as a direct result of the scandal, he is still employed by the Foreign Office.
On what would have been her late son’s 20th birthday, Harry’s mother today calls from Mr Holland to resign completely from the public service.
Charlotte Charles, said: ‘Harry is needlessly no longer with us and my family and I are going through hell. ‘I would appreciate Neil Holland resigning from whatever position he holds now – he’s compounded my grief in an indescribable way.’
Last night, the Foreign Office said: ‘We will not comment on ongoing legal proceedings, and we are responding to legal action in the judicial review in the normal way. We are confident we have acted properly and lawfully throughout. We have the deepest sympathy for Harry’s family, and will continue to do everything we can to see justice done.’
They said the evidence handed to the High Court by the Foreign Office skewered Mr Raab’s claims that Britain had done all it could to stop Sacoolas (above) leaving. However, it is understood that even though Mr Holland has left his job liaising with the hundreds of Ambassadors and High Commissioners as a direct result of the scandal, he is still employed by the Foreign Office