London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Katrice Lee's dad angry over Boris Johnson Hartlepool meeting

Katrice Lee's dad angry over Boris Johnson Hartlepool meeting

The father of a girl who went missing in Germany 40 years ago says he feels "bitterly let down" after a meeting with Boris Johnson was sprung on him.

Richard Lee said he had hoped to meet the prime minister in Downing Street but was "devastated" after a surprise meeting on Monday.

He said he was told about the meeting minutes before and was not prepared.

Katrice Lee vanished on her second birthday in 1981, near a British military base in Germany.

Mr Lee believes his daughter was abducted and the case has been raised again in recent months in the House of Commons.

In November Mr Johnson said he would meet Mr Lee "father to father" and it was hoped the meeting would take place in Downing Street.

However, a previous date for a meeting at Downing Street in March was cancelled due to the situation in Ukraine.

A planned meeting between Mr Lee and Margaret Thatcher in 1982 was also cancelled because of the Falklands War.

Mr Lee said he received a phone call "out of the blue" last week asking him to take his file on Katrice's disappearance on Monday afternoon to the Hartlepool office of local Conservative MP Jill Mortimer to discuss "a few points on the case".


'Angry and upset'


Mr Lee said: "When I arrived I was taken to a conference room where I put my file on the table, ready to clarify a few points and it was then I was told I was meeting the PM in a few minutes.

"To say I was angry and upset is an understatement, I've been fighting for a meeting with a British prime minister for 40 years and I was infuriated it was happening with no notice.

"I had a presentation ready, but it was at home on the kitchen table - luckily I had a copy on my phone."

Probes by Royal Military Police have been unable to determine what happened to Katrice Lee


Katrice had been with her mother Sharon, from Gosport, at a Naafi supermarket in Paderborn in November 1981 when she disappeared.

The Royal Military Police has previously apologised for failings in its investigations, which included delays in interviewing key witnesses and not releasing a photofit of a suspect for 36 years.

Mr Lee said he discussed the case with Mr Johnson for about 15 to 20 minutes and asked for an independent inquiry into how his daughter's disappearance was handled.

He also called for the case to be handed to civilian police and for the government to pledge £1m to the charity Missing People, which helps families trace loved ones who disappear overseas.

Mr Lee said: "I walked out of the office after the PM had looked across at Jill Mortimer and said he could probably help with one of the points, but I can't remember which one as I was so angry.

"I'm annoyed we live in a country where we have freedom of speech and freedom of choice, but both of those things were taken away from me on Monday."

Mr Lee added he was waiting for the prime minister to get back in touch following the meeting.

Both Mr Johnson's and Ms Mortimer's offices have been approached for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×