Diane Abbott’s son allegedly spat at and bit police officers in a scrap outside the Foreign Office

The son of shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has been charged with assaulting two police officers during a disturbance at the Foreign Office.

James Abbott-Thompson, 28, was arrested outside the Westminster building on Friday afternoon last week.

He was accused of spitting at and punching one officer and biting the thumb of another at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

He was released on bail and will appear back in front of the judge in February.


By the time his case is heard, his mother could be Home Secretary and would be in charge of the country’s police forces if Labour win the General Election.

Former Cambridge student James Abbott-Thompson has been charged with assault

According to his Linkedin Page, Abbott-Thompson began working at the Foreign office in 2014 and was based in London for almost three years.



After working at the British Embassy in Rome he went on a secondment to a consultancy firm, which he has since left.

The Met Police confirmed they were called to an incident at the Foreign Office in King Charles Street, Westminster at 2.45pm last Friday.

A spokesman said: ‘James Adam Abbott-Thompson, 28, was charged on Sunday 1 December with two counts of assault by beating of an emergency services worker.

‘He was further charged with an offence under Section 4 of the Public Order Act. He appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 2 December.

‘He was granted bail and next appears at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 7 February.’

If Labour win the election, Diane Abbott will be Home Secretary when her son appears before a magistrae charged with assaulting the police

The alleged assaults are said to have taken place after Abbott-Thompson arrived at the Foreign Office building and asked to speak to someone, who was not present, the Mailonline reports.

Abbott-Thompson is the son of Ms Abbott and Ghanaian architect Richard Thompson, who divorced a year after his birth.

The former University of Cambridge student was at the centre of a political row in 2003, when his mother was accused of hypocrisy for sending him to the elite £10,000 a year City of London school.

Ms Abbott spoke about her son during a TV interview when she was running for the Labour leadership in 2010.

Explaining her decisions about his education, she said: ‘I knew what could happen if my son went to the wrong school and got in with the wrong crowd.

‘They are subjected to peer pressure and when that happens it’s very hard for a mother to save her son. Once a black boy is lost to the world of gangs it’s very hard to get them back.

Dianne Abbott has been contacted for comment.

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