A HIGH-RANKING British diplomat at the centre of allegations that he groped a woman at a party has left his post and been told he will not be going overseas again.
A Foreign & Commonwealth Office investigation was launched into the behaviour of John Yapp, the British High Commissioner in
The inquiry into the 57-year old, who has denied the allegations, has been completed. It has been decided that Mr. Yapp will not be returning to
According to a source, Mr. Yapp, who is believed to have been divorced three times, was accused of ‘inappropriate’ behaviour towards a woman at a charity event in April.
Initial speculation suggested the woman at the centre of the allegations was Kim Simplis, the common-law wife of the country’s Prime Minister Dean Barrow, or businesswoman Lauren Reardon Smith.
But The Mail on Sunday established that it was Denise Courtenay, 44, who is married to the country’s former foreign minister Eamon Courtenay.
She made a formal complaint to the Foreign Office, which sent a former ambassador to investigate. She alleged that she found herself alone with the then High Commissioner at the end of a charity dinner-dance in
She claims that an inebriated Mr. Yapp patted her bottom then pointed at the sky before making a joke about how he became sexually excited only when there was a full moon.
A senior Foreign & Commonwealth source said: “To say that he has been exonerated would not be right. He will be given a job in
At his flat in
An FCO spokesman said: “The investigation is complete but we do not comment on outcomes."
COMPLAINT: John Yapp, with Denise Courtenay and, inset, how we broke the story