Timothy Hampton
Encyclopedia
Timothy Hampton was a specialist in weapons of mass destruction and an employee of the preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
(CTBTO) in Vienna
, Austria
since 1998.
in Vienna, Austria. According to a UN spokesman, he was found dead at the bottom of an internal stairwell at around 8.00 am on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Hampton was trained as a biochemist and had worked with David Kelly
, the director of microbiology at Porton Down
, Britain's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, before moving onto nuclear test-ban projects. Hampton is survived by his partner, Olena Gryshcuk and a 3 year old child. Gryshcuk is reported to be a weapons inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA).
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization is an international organization that will be established upon the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, a Convention that outlaws nuclear test explosions. Its seat will be Vienna, Austria...
(CTBTO) in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
since 1998.
Death
Hampton died in an apparent fall from the 17th floor of his workplace, Building E, at the Vienna International CentreVienna International Centre
right|250px|thumb|Vienna International Centre . The [[UNO-City|Austria Center Vienna]] can be seen at the far left in the middle distance....
in Vienna, Austria. According to a UN spokesman, he was found dead at the bottom of an internal stairwell at around 8.00 am on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Hampton was trained as a biochemist and had worked with David Kelly
David Kelly
David Christopher Kelly, CMG was a British scientist and expert on biological warfare, employed by the British Ministry of Defence, and formerly a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq...
, the director of microbiology at Porton Down
Porton Down
Porton Down is a United Kingdom government and military science park. It is situated slightly northeast of Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility which is operated by QinetiQ...
, Britain's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, before moving onto nuclear test-ban projects. Hampton is survived by his partner, Olena Gryshcuk and a 3 year old child. Gryshcuk is reported to be a weapons inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
(IAEA).
Controversies
- An initial autopsy concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances; however, a second post-mortem examination, performed by pathologist Professor Kathrin Yen, on behalf of the family, detected internal bruising caused by strangulation and concluded these were not consistent with suicide.
- Hampton’s sister, Beverley Hampton intervened with the Austrian authorities in November 2009 to prevent her brother's clothes, worn at the time of his death, from being destroyed.
- Richard BenyonRichard BenyonRichard Henry Ronald Benyon MRICS is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Newbury since 2005 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since May 2010.-Early life:Benyon was born in...
, the family’s Member of Parliament, raised the matter of Hampton’s death with Foreign Office Minister Chris BryantChris BryantChristopher John Bryant is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rhondda since 2001...
. - The UN has denied claims that Hampton had been involved in talks discussing nuclear testing in Iran.
Alleged North Korean nuclear test anomaly
In September 2009, an article appeared in the CBTO Newsletter, 'Spectrum' the piece was co-authored by Hampton and he is recognized as part of a team maintaining CBTO software which analyses International Monitoring System data. The article suggests that data collected from a DPRK announced nuclear test on 25 May 2009, did not exhibit the radionuclide emission signature that might be expected from the seismic event observed. The article is careful to defer to CBTO Member States as the final arbiter of the origin of these events, but the conclusion from the data is clear: Either emissions from the 4 kiloton event were contained at an unlikely level of > 99.9%, or the event was a non-nuclear, man made explosion.External links
- http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-10-21/17423/British_nuclear_expert_dies_in_40-metre_plunge
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229836/Sister-British-UN-death-plunge-scientist-rescues-evidence-destruction-bid-disprove-suicide-theory.html
- http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115594
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1227885/British-UN-scientists-death-suicide-Gordon-Brown-told.html
- http://austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2009-11-06/17897/Media_Insider_-_The_UN_murder_investigation