§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on which occasions(a) Vice Admiral Alan West and (b) Major Peter Hicks have met Roger Crooks since 1995. [116930]
§ Mr. SpellarVice Admiral Sir Alan West, the current Chief of Defence Intelligence, has never met Mr. Crooks. Major Peter Hicks served as a Military Liaison Officer with the Defence Intelligence Staff from 1994–98. He deployed to Sierra Leone on three occasions to support contingency planning for the evacuation of UK and other foreign nationals. In 1997, he directly assisted in a civilian evacuation from Sierra Leone. He had no professional contact with Mr. Crooks and recalls only one occasion at which he may have briefly met him socially.