Diplomat found dead after vanishing from Hampshire home had been suffering stress while working for Covid taskforce, an inquest has heard

Richard Morris, the former ambassador to Nepal, 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.

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

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.

Mr 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 resumed on Monday in Winchester.

Addressing the coroner, Ms Morris 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.’

After several years living in Nepal, the couple returned to the UK, where Mr Morris worked for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in London for several months ahead of their expected posting to Fiji.

Ms Morris said: ‘Richard was proud to work for the FCDO and enjoyed his work.

‘He found it varied, stimulating and compelling.’

The inquest heard that Mr Morris found the return to working in London difficult.

He was assigned to 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.

Ms Morris said: ‘It was a double whammy… of media interest and the fact that it’s somebody else’s tragedy.’

She said her husband ‘never liked media interest’ in his working life and was ‘fearful of being ripped apart by the UK press’.

He was later asked to assist with the Government’s Covid-19 taskforce, helping to co-ordinate briefings for ministers.

This was at a time when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in intensive care and news about coronavirus was changing every day.

‘It was the most stressful job he had ever done’. Ms Morris told the inquest.

‘He was extremely stressed.’

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She said Mr Morris felt there was not enough time for him to ensure all information provided was accurate.

‘On top of that, the potential fallout from any error he might make was likely to be very public.

‘If any information error got past him the Government or the Civil Service would be torn apart in the press,’ she said.

On May 6 2020, Mr Morris went for a run near his home – something he often did to relieve stress – but did not return.

The inquest heard that police were called and extensive searches were carried out.

Months later, on August 31, his body was discovered in Alice Holt Forest.

The inquest continues.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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