UK Police Spies Who Infiltrated Activist Groups Could Face Charges for Deceiving Female Activists Into Sex

Twelve former police officers in the UK are facing possible criminal charges over alleged wrongdoing linked to undercover operations that secretly monitored political groups, with the Crown Prosecution Service now examining evidence sent to it by police. The case centres on the wider 'spycops' scandal, in which 139 undercover officers infiltrated mainly leftwing groups over more than four decades.

The CPS is considering whether the former officers could be charged with misconduct in public office. However, the precise allegations against 11 of the 12 have not been made public, and there has been no decision to prosecute them.

The evidence was referred to prosecutors following a police investigation into Mark Kennedy, an undercover officer whose activities became a central part of the scandal. Kennedy infiltrated environmental and leftwing groups between 2003 and 2009 while working for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

Ex-Police Officers Drawn Into the Spycops Investigation

Kennedy operated under a false identity and adopted the appearance of a protester, including growing his hair and getting tattoos, while infiltrating groups such as Earth First! and Climate Camp.

His undercover work extended far beyond attending political meetings.

Kennedy had intimate relationships with women while concealing that he was a police officer. One of those women, social justice campaigner Lisa Jones, spent six years in a relationship with him before uncovering his real identity through her own investigation in 2010.

That discovery helped expose a much wider system of covert surveillance and triggered a series of revelations about the tactics used by undercover officers.

The scandal eventually became the subject of a long-running public inquiry, which has examined both the activities of the officers and the way their operations were managed.

Allegations that have emerged include officers deceiving women into sexual relationships, giving false evidence in court while using their assumed identities and taking the identities of dead children.

The current prosecution review stems partly from Operation Montrose, an internal police investigation launched to examine alleged criminal behaviour by Kennedy and others. The National Police Chiefs' Council confirmed that a file relating to Kennedy and 11 other officers had been sent to the CPS.

Kennedy's lawyer has declined to comment.

Ex-Police Officers Could Face Charges Over Misconduct

The potential charges represent another stage in a scandal that has already produced serious findings about the conduct of undercover police.

If the CPS eventually authorises prosecutions against any of the 12 officers, it would be the first time an officer involved in these operations had been criminally charged for wrongdoing that was not authorised by their managers.

The operations ran from 1968 until at least 2010 and involved surveillance of tens of thousands of mainly leftwing activists. Kennedy was among the officers whose actions later came under intense scrutiny.

One case illustrates the personal consequences of the undercover tactics. Kennedy had a two-year relationship with campaigner Kate Wilson while hiding his real identity. In 2021, Wilson won a landmark tribunal case against the police after judges found that her human rights had been grossly violated.

The tribunal also criticised the senior officers responsible for Kennedy. Judges concluded that they either knew about the relationship, deliberately chose not to know, or were incompetent and negligent for failing to act on clear signs.

Surveillance records examined as part of the case showed that police monitored Wilson's private life during her relationship with Kennedy. Officers recorded details of the couple staying together, visiting her parents, going on holiday and attending ordinary activities including a cinema trip, museum visit and concert.

The files demonstrated how extensive the surveillance could become, reaching into areas of activists' personal lives that went well beyond their political activities.

The latest CPS review does not establish that the 12 former officers committed criminal offences. Prosecutors must now assess the evidence provided by police and decide whether it meets the threshold for charges.