High-flying diplomat 'was told to man up by bosses' before killing himself

A diplomat who vanished from his home after suffering ‘extreme stress’ while working for the Government’s Covid taskforce took his own life, an inquest has found.

Former ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris was last seen running near his home in Hampshire on May 6 2020, and his body was found three months later.

An inquest into his death in Winchester heard that he had worked long hours under high pressure, helping co-ordinate briefings to ministers at a time when the UK was battling the fierce first wave of coronavirus.

This assignment to the taskforce came after he was put on the team looking at the case of Harry Dunn, the 19-year-old killed when a car crashed into his motorbike outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire which sparked a diplomatic incident. 

On Monday, his widow Alison had fought back tears as she told the inquest he had been ‘totally unprotected’ from the demands of the Covid taskforce.

She said ‘I think it felt to him like he was being told to man up and be more resilient’.

Richard Morris, 52, was found dead on August 31 in woodland three months after he vanished

His widow Alison – seen today – said yesterday he was ‘totally unprotected’ from demands

On Tuesday the coroner concluded that Mr Morris had taken his own life after suffering stress working for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and amid worries about his future.

Senior coroner Christopher Wilkinson said: ‘Richard Morris took his own life while suffering severe and acute stress.

‘I recognise the very difficult circumstances in which Richard, the wider taskforce and the FCDO were working in at the time against the backdrop of a very fast-moving pandemic’, he added.

He described the taskforce in the early days of the coronavirus crisis as ‘much like a plane being flown at the same time as building it’. 

His tearful widow Alison said he was ‘totally unprotected’ from the taskforce’s demands

Mr Morris was last seen running near his home in Hampshire on May 6, 2020, and his body was found three months later

Mr Wilkinson mentioned Mr Morris’ history of stress and worries about performing to the best of his ability. 

Previously at the inquest, his widow Alison Morris said her husband feared there was not enough time to process information in the fast-moving period and if any information error got past him the Government ‘would be torn apart in the press’.

As a result he was ‘desperate’ to keep on top of what was going on, working every day with ‘no real time off’, she said.

She said her husband was a ‘quiet extrovert’ who ‘thrived on interactions with others’.

‘He was genuinely interested in people.

‘His kindness and compassion shone through even when there was a language barrier.’ 

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.