Fresh concerns over unit already under fire for spying on Stephen Lawrence’s family and stealing dead children’s identities

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Police officers running an intelligence operation that covertly infiltrated hundreds of political groups exaggerated the achievements of their unit, a top-level police report has found.

An internal inquiry uncovered evidence that the managers of the secretive Scotland Yard unit, known as the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), clearly exaggerated the value of the intelligence gathered by its undercover officers.

The inquiry suggested the SDS embellished the importance and success of the unit to obtain public funding.

The inquiry’s findings were sent to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, last year but have been kept secret until now.

The disclosure adds to the criticism surrounding the clandestine infiltration of at least 460 political groups by more than 100 undercover officers over more than four decades.

Undercover officers have been found to have formed long-term intimate relationships with women during their missions, gathered intelligence about the relatives of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence and other grieving families campaigning for justice, and concealed evidence in court cases.

Many of the undercover spies secretly stole the identities of dead children to help develop their fake personas, without consulting or informing the children’s parents.

Police spies stole identities of dead children Read more

On Wednesday, the senior judge heading a public inquiry into the covert infiltration of political groups since 1968 is to hold a hearing to help determine whether the police have a duty to inform these parents that their dead children’s identities were stolen by undercover officers.

So far, the names of only a handful of officers who adopted the identity of a dead child have been been exposed. However a ruling in favour of openness could potentially lead to the identification of many more.

The public inquiry, led by Lord Justice Pitchford, was set up by the home secretary, Theresa May, to scrutinise what she has called the undercover spies’ “significant failings of judgment, intrusive supervision and leadership over a sustained period”.

Pitchford’s inquiry has been holding preliminary hearings before embarking on its substantive sessions.

Revelations about the conduct of the undercover officers began to emerge in 2010 after investigations by political activists and journalists.

Police chiefs were forced to set up an internal inquiry in 2013, headed by Mick Creedon, Derbyshire’s chief constable, to examine the activities of the undercover spies. Critics have dismissed is inquiry as being insufficiently independent, a claim denied by the police.

In February last year, Creedon sent a “restricted” report to Hogan-Howe outlining the progress of his inquiry. A partial version of the report has been released to the Guardian following a freedom of information request.

In one section, Creedon wrote: “Evidence of SDS managers clearly exaggerating the involvement of SDS officers and the value of their intelligence has been discovered and certainly for the first two decades of the unit there was an annual report to the commissioner [of the Metropolitan Police] and the Home Office to ensure continued funding.”

He added: “This would not be the only occasion where members of a unit embellished their importance and success in order to secure finance.” Creedon did not cite any examples of what he thought had been exaggerated.

Creedon said the SDS had been set up in 1968 with the original remit to gather intelligence about leftwing groups and individuals “who were seen to be attempting to subvert the state”.

Police spy: 'I thought, how would they feel about their son's name being used' Read more

He added: “However world political events dictated that the unit included groups covering the extreme rightwing and animal rights.”

In 2013, following reports in the Guardian, Hogan-Howe issued a general apology for the theft of dead children’s identities by the undercover officers. However, he refused to tell any parents of the affected families if the identities of their children had been stolen, arguing that he wanted to protect the undercover officers from being exposed.

His apology for the “shock and offence the use of this tactic has caused” came on the day Creedon published a report outlining how at least 42 undercover officers had used the identities of children who had died young, usually between the ages of eight and 14.

The undercover officers spent hours searching through official birth and death certificates to locate suitable candidates so that they could create a plausible backstory for the fake identity they used during their time under cover, usually around five years.



The officers often visited the home where the child was born to familiarise themselves with the surroundings. They were issued with official documents, such as passports and driving licences, in the names of the dead children in case suspicious activists started to investigate them.

One undercover officer, Peter Francis, who infiltrated anti-racist groups for four years, has described how he felt as if he was “stomping on the grave” of the four-year-old boy whose identity he used.

The Met said on Tuesday that Creedon’s inquiry, known as Operation Herne, had “carried out a thorough investigation into the operation of the SDS. The finding highlighted in this Herne report speaks for itself.

“Operation Herne has also led Chief Constable Mick Creedon to speak publicly about the brave and innovative operations carried out by the SDS, and those courageous operatives who undoubtedly helped save lives over many years.”

The Met said it was providing full support to the public inquiry.

