After months of already strained relations, a new diplomatic dispute is brewing between London and Washington. British ministers are facing calls to act after US authorities reportedly flew a diplomat accused of possessing indecent images of children out of the UK without initially informing London's Metropolitan Police.


US officials reportedly raided the diplomat’s London flat in August before taking him to a Royal Air Force base used by US forces and flying him out of the country, as British media outlet The Guardian reports.


UK ministers are understood to be in contact with the US embassy over the incident, which could further strain relations between London and Washington.


According to police reports, US officers, who do not have arrest powers in Britain, did not formally request the diplomat’s extradition. British authorities were informed of the case only after he had been taken out of the country.


A source told British media that US authorities should have notified Scotland Yard during the raid, particularly after allegedly discovering the material.


Conservative MP Nick Timothy raised concerns in a letter to British Justice Secretary Alex Norris, suggesting that the actions of US authorities could be perceived as a cover-up. He argued that if the diplomat had committed offences in the UK, he should be tried in an English court.


Timothy described the incident as part of a “concerning pattern” of US authorities prosecuting American service personnel accused of offences against British civilians while stationed in the UK.


The case has been compared with that of US fighter pilot Capt Jacob Wulfson, who avoided trial under English law after being accused of strangling a woman in Cambridge while off duty in 2023. Wulfson was instead tried by court martial at a US airbase and sentenced to six months in prison after being convicted of strangulation. He was acquitted of charges of sexual assault and aggravated sexual contact.


The diplomat’s case has also been likened to that of US State Department employee Anne Sacoolas, who caused the death of British teenager Harry Dunn in a 2019 car crash. Sacoolas left the UK shortly after the collision after the US asserted diplomatic immunity on her behalf. She later pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving at a virtual High Court hearing in December 2022 and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for one year.


A UK government spokesperson declined to comment because of the ongoing US investigation but said Britain expected all foreign diplomats to obey the law while in the UK, “in the same way we expect all UK diplomats to do so when posted overseas”.


A US embassy spokesperson said it was “aware of allegations” concerning one of its staff and expected “all personnel to adhere to the highest standards of conduct”.


“The individual in question has been reassigned to the United States in conjunction with an ongoing investigation. The embassy has informed British authorities of the case.”


A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “On Tuesday 25 August, US authorities made us aware of an investigation they are conducting into suspected offences in London relating to indecent images of children. We continue to liaise with them regarding this matter.”


By Nazrin Sadigova