The Big Breach: From Top Secret to Maximum Security

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He now lives permanently in France and has retrained as a professional pilot. [58] Personal life [ edit ]

Mandela rages at Tomlinson's claim of MI6 link". The Guardian. 27 January 2001 . Retrieved 3 December 2012. Intelligence agent accused of trying to publish book about service". Agence France-Presse. 3 November 1997. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20090607230403/http://www.scottbaker-inquests.gov.uk/hearing_transcripts/130208pm.htm [ bare URL] During 2008, Tomlinson was a witness for the inquest into the deaths of the Princess of Wales and Dodi al Fayed. [52] He had suggested that MI6 was monitoring Diana before her death and that her driver on the night she died, Henri Paul, had been an MI6 informant, and that her death resembled plans he saw during 1992 for the assassination of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević, using a bright light to cause a traffic accident. [52] On 13 May 1994, Tomlinson resigned from MI6, suggesting in his letter of resignation that he had lost the motivation for a career with the organisation. He was later permitted to rescind his resignation. [24]a b c d Du Chateau, Carroll (31 May 2000). "Outcast: the spy who wants to spill the beans". The New Zealand Herald. Finding his desk job unsatisfying, Tomlinson joined the Territorial Army in September 1989 and, after passing selection, served as a reservist with the SAS in the Artists Rifles, and then 23 SAS, qualifying as a military parachutist and radio operator. He represented Britain in the 1990 Camel Trophy, competing in Siberia, and crossed the Sahara desert solo on a motorcycle. [16] He enjoyed the experience, and subsequently applied to join MI6, and officially joined the Service on 23 September 1991. [17] He completed his training with MI6 and claims he was the best recruit on his course, being awarded the rarely given "Box 1" attribute by his instructing officers including Nicholas Langman. Jimmy Burns, reviewing the book for the Financial Times, speculated that it was plausible that "MI6's senior management realised they had made a terrible mistake in recruiting someone who thought that espionage was just one big adventure." [39] He concluded, however, that the book "left me with the feeling that the spooks in Whitehall could have avoided a great deal of adverse publicity by agreeing to Tomlinson's original proposal: an employment tribunal held in camera." [39] Ex-MI6 chief admits agents do have a licence to kill but denies executing Diana". The Evening Standard. 20 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021 . Retrieved 8 May 2020.

a b c Breen, Stephen (14 May 1999). " 'Obsessive Loner' Hurt by Dismissal". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016 . Retrieved 22 October 2012. In 2008, Tomlinson was a witness for the inquest into the deaths of the Princess of Wales and Dodi al Fayed. He had suggested that MI6 was monitoring Diana before her death and that "he knew for a fact" that [9]her driver on the night she died, Henri Paul, was an MI6 informant. He claimed that her death mirrored plans he saw in 1992 for the assassination of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, using a bright light to cause a traffic accident. His fellow student, historian Andrew Roberts, remembers Tomlinson as "a bright and charming undergraduate, popular with the boys for his drinking and sporting prowess, and with the girls for his dark good looks." [14] His friends included Gideon Rachman, who wrote him a reference after his tutor refused to do so. [15] Tomlinson completed flying training with Cambridge University Air Squadron and won a Half Blue for Modern Pentathlon. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a starred First Class honours degree in aeronautical engineering in 1984, and was approached by MI6 shortly afterwards, whose offer he turned down. [10] Following his graduation he took examinations to join the Royal Navy as a Fleet Air Arm Officer, but he failed the medical examination due to childhood asthma. [11] Instead he applied for and was awarded a Kennedy Scholarship, which allowed him to study technology policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with full funding during 1986–7. [11] Following this, he was awarded a prize from the Rotary Foundation, allowing him to study in the country of his choice for a year. Consequently, he enrolled in a political science course at the University of Buenos Aires, where he became a fluent Spanish speaker. [11] He continued to pursue his aeronautical interests and qualified as a glider pilot with the Fuerza Aérea Argentina. During 1988–9, Tomlinson worked in Mayfair, London, for management consultancy company Booz Allen Hamilton. [11] Military and MI6 service [ edit ] MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross, London a b Financial Times (London, England) 31 March 2001 Saturday London Edition 1 BOOKS: The spy who talked too much: The renegade MI6 agent is an unconvincing advocate of free speech, argues Jimmy Burns BYLINE: By JIMMY BURNS SECTION: BOOKS; Pg. 4Norton-Taylor, Richard (29 June 2006). "Police raid Riviera home of former MI6 officer". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021 . Retrieved 3 December 2012. Smith, Simon R. (1 January 2007). Diana: The Lying Game. Lulu.com. p.73. ISBN 978-1-4276-1734-7 . Retrieved 1 December 2012. Harding, Luke (15 November 2017). "How Trump walked into Putin's web". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017 . Retrieved 30 January 2018. a b c d e "MI6 'Diana-style' plot dismissed". BBC News. 13 February 2008. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017 . Retrieved 13 February 2013. In 1999, Tomlinson enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, using a nom de guerre. He served with 3rd Company, 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment until medically discharged in 2003. Tomlinson is now believed to live in France, where he qualified and now works as an airline pilot.

Tomlinson was apprehended by French Authorities in July 2006 on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the United Kingdom. The warrant claimed Tomlinson was involved in the publication of two lists containing the names of 116 MI6 officers in 2005. The police seized computers, personal papers and other items from his home in Cannes, and from his place of employment, leading to the loss of this employment. He was subsequently cleared entirely of any involvements in the lists, though was never compensated for the damage to his career caused by the allegations. It was reported in some quarters that this arrest was linked to the inquiries into the death of Diana. During this period Tomlinson kept a number of blogs publicising his treatment. a b c Iashmar, Paul (23 January 2001). "Seven of Richard Tomlinson's Big Claims". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013 . Retrieved 22 February 2013. a b Temple, Anthea (2 October 2002). "The spy who loved me". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021 . Retrieved 22 October 2012. Ex-MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson tells his story - of particular interest in what he has to say about the death of Diana Pricess of Wales. The UK authorites made strenuous efforts to prevent publication of the book and Tomlinson was subjected to serious harassment and terms of imprisonment Tomlinson then attempted to assist Mohamed al-Fayed in his privately funded investigation into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and al-Fayed's son Dodi. Tomlinson claimed that MI6 had considered assassinating Slobodan Milošević, the president of Serbia, by staging a car crash using a powerful strobe light to blind the driver. He suggested that Diana and Dodi might have been killed by MI6 in the same way. Sir Richard Dearlove, head of MI6 at the time, admitted that plans of that nature had been drafted regarding a different Eastern European official, but that the proposal had been swiftly rejected by management. [6]

In 2009, MI6 agreed to allow Tomlinson to return to Britain, unfreeze royalties from his book and drop the threat of charges. MI6 also apologised for his mistreatment. [7] Staff at MI6 have been allowed employment tribunals since 2000, and have been able to unionise since 2008. [8] Early life [ edit ] Nuttall, Chris (19 May 1999). "Net will be death of MI6 - Tomlinson". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021 . Retrieved 5 December 2012. Radnofsky, Louise (20 February 2008). "MI6 did not assassinate Diana, ex-chief tells inquest". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 April 2020. Lashmar, Paul (14 May 1999). "The making of a traitor". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019 . Retrieved 9 June 2013.

Richard John Charles Tomlinson was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, and raised in the nearby town of Ngāruawāhia. [2] [9] He was the middle child in a family of three brothers. [10] His father came from a Lancashire farming family and he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, and had met his wife whilst studying agriculture at Newcastle University. [11] The family moved to the village of Armathwaite [12] in Cumbria, England, in 1968. [10] The young Tomlinson won a scholarship for the independent Barnard Castle School in County Durham, where he was a contemporary of Rory Underwood and Rob Andrew, who went on to become England rugby internationals. [13] He excelled at mathematics and physics, and won a scholarship to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in 1981. [11] In 1987 Tomlinson returned to the United Kingdom and served for five years in the Territorial Army's 21 SAS and in 23 SAS, qualifying as a military parachutist and radio operator. He also represented Britain in the 1990 Camel Trophy, competing in Siberia, USSR [6], and single-handedly crossed the Sahara desert by motorcycle. He finally joined MI6 in 1991. He completed his training with MI6 as the best recruit on his course, being awarded the rarely given "Box 1" attribute, by his instructing officers including Nicholas Langman. He then served in the "SOV/OPS" department, working during the closing phases of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, before being posted to Sarajevo as the MI6 representative in Bosnia during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. His next posting was to work as an undercover officer against Iran, where he succeeded in penetrating the Iranian Intelligence Service, presumably AVAMA. He was born in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand and grew up in Armathwaite, England. He was educated at Barnard Castle School where he was a contemporary of England Rugby players Rory Underwood and Rob Andrew. He excelled at mathematics and received double-stars in A and S-level mathematics and physics. He then won an entrance scholarship to Cambridge University. He was first approached by MI6 in 1984 after graduating from Gonville and Caius College Cambridge, with a Double First Class Honours Degree in aeronautical engineering. He also completed flying training with Cambridge University Air Squadron, won a Cambridge Blue for Modern Pentathlon. On graduation he was accepted to join the Royal Navy as a Fleet Air Arm Officer. However he instead applied for and won a Kennedy Scholarship to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., where he obtained an S.M. in Technology policy. He worked briefly in the summer of 1986 as an intern at the World Bank and then subsequent to graduation from MIT, won a further prize from the Rotary Foundation, allowing him to study in the country of his choice for a year. He enrolled in a political science course at the University of Buenos Aires, where he became a fluent Spanish speaker. [5] He continued to pursue his aeronautical interests and qualified as a glider pilot with the Fuerza Aerea Argentina.Speaking by video-link from France on 13 February 2008, Tomlinson conceded that after the interval of 16 or 17 years, he "could not remember specifically" whether the document he had seen in 1992 had in fact proposed the use of a strobe light to cause a traffic accident as a means of assassinating Milosevic, although use of lights for this purpose had been covered in his MI6 training. a b c d Barnett, Antony (13 June 1999). "British agents helped Iran to make killer gas". The Observer. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017 . Retrieved 15 February 2013. Donnelly, Rachel (4 November 1997). "Ex-MI6 agent charged over planned memoirs". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020 . Retrieved 15 February 2013. Tomlinson has operated at least 5 different blogs, hosted by Blogger and Wordpress over the period of his disputes with MI6. For whatever reasons, none have lasted for long. As of June 2010 this is the only one remaining with little of interest on it.