Hartlepool dad to give back medals in 'disgust' over missing child case

The father of a girl who went missing as a two-year-old in Germany in 1981 is to hand back his Army medals in protest over the handling of the case.

Katrice Lee vanished on her birthday near a British military base in Paderborn.

Richard Lee, of Hartlepool, plans to go to Downing Street and give back his medals in "disgust" at the Government and Army's handling of the case.

The Ministry of Defence said any new information would be investigated.

Katrice had been with her mother, Sharon, and her aunt, Wendy, at a Naafi (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) supermarket when she disappeared.

Mr Lee, a former warrant officer, served in the Army for more than 30 years, including in the 15/19 Royal King's Hussars in former West Germany.

He is planning to hand back his Northern Ireland general service medal and another medal awarded to him for 30-years' service and good conduct.

He said: "I feel like my family have been kept in the dark from day one. The medals mean nothing to me, my daughter means everything.

"I was given a gift, my gift [my daughter] was stolen and I want her back.

"I believe she is still out there, and I am totally devastated at the lack of support this case is getting."

Mr Lee said a meeting with the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2022 was a "publicity stunt".

He said he was given very little notice ahead of the meeting, which took place during a visit by Mr Johnson to Hartlepool, and that nothing "meaningful" was discussed.

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

In 2012, Royal Military Police (RMP) apologised for failings in the initial investigation and reopened its inquiries under the title Operation Bute.

The government agreed to review the case in 2017. The same year a photo-fit of a man seen putting a child in car, created shortly after Katrice went missing, emerged.

The following year, focus shifted to the bank of the Alme river, near where Katrice had vanished, with more than 100 soldiers carrying out a five-week excavation.

However, the MoD says "all active lines of enquiry have since been completed" and that a review of Operation Bute was carried out by an independent panel.

It added: "Our sympathies are with Richard Lee and his family as they continue to search for answers.

"The [MoD's] Defence Serious Crime Command and Unit, which now holds primacy for the investigation, continues to welcome any additional information that could help to determine Katrice's whereabouts."

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