Former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson was dismissed on 22 May 1995 after his probation was extended over concerns about his conduct and alleged lack of teamwork. Tomlinson argued that MI6 had mishandled his depression following his girlfriend’s death and trauma from Sarajevo, and that he was denied a fair employment hearing. MI6 obtained a public-interest-immunity certificate from Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, preventing an employment tribunal from examining the dismissal. In 1998, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee recommended that MI6 be brought under ordinary employment law.
Tomlinson was arrested in October 1997 after giving an Australian publisher a seven-page synopsis of his proposed memoir, The Big Breach. He pleaded guilty and received a 12-month sentence on 18 December 1997, serving six months before leaving Britain. The book, published in 2001, included allegations about MI6 operations, some disputed and some later acknowledged in limited form; Tomlinson’s claims that MI6 had planned a strobe-light assassination method were not established as the cause of Princess Diana’s death. In September 2008, MI6 ended its legal opposition to the book, released its royalties, and admitted that earlier actions had been disproportionate. In 2009, it apologised for his treatment and dropped threats of further charges, while refusing reinstatement or compensation.
