Police Officer Infiltrator Exposed

by joe mcivor Fri Oct 22, 2010 18:32

Understandably people in Britain have been saying that evidence is needed before publication of such serious allegations .Those who released the story say that it was extremely important to get the facts out straight away and that a fuller statement will follow.

"Sorry but those closely involved are not willing to take on dealing with enquiries - as you can imagine things are incredibly hard for them right now and they're just not up for reading through everyone's comments on the subject.

"The situation here is unique as far as we know because Mark was outed while he was still embedded, and had been involved not just with one campaign or group but with networks of close friends on a personal level. There's no rule book for this, and there's no one group who would have been the appropriate vehicle for verifying the research."

A source who has been in contact with the Notts activists behind the exposure wrote earlier today on indy UK .:
"What happened was that someone close to Mark became suspicious. They did a little research and became more suspicious. They asked a friend to help, did further research together, and became even MORE suspicious. Both people kept this incredibly quiet, they didn't even let their partners or closest friends know they were doing this, precisely to stop any unfounded rumours starting about someone before they were absolutely sure. But all the evidence was stacking up in the same direction.

A very small group of people together did enough research to gather overwhelming, incontrovertible, documented evidence. Then six people confronted him and he confessed.

Sorry the evidence cannot be shared because it would put others at risk, but if you have doubts then try to contact Mark to ask him yourself. All known phone numbers aren't working and his profile disappeared from Facebook early yesterday. "

Notts indymedia issued the following statement this afternoon.

" The Notts Indymedia collective can confirm that the following information is correct: Mark Kennedy, also known as Mark 'Stone' has been working as an undercover police officer from 2000 to at least the end of 2009. During this period he has been actively involved in various environmental, animal rights, anticapitalist and antifascist groups and campaigns. He lived in Nottingham and was a well-known face in the local activist community.
Investigations into his identity revealed evidence that he has been a police officer and a face-to-face confession has confirmed this. The people involved in confronting Mark and getting his confession from him make clear that for security reasons no more information can be made public at this stage."

by joe mcivor Fri Oct 22, 2010 19:23

Some of the comments on indy uk show the impact this patsy has had on the UK activist scene, especially in Nottingham . Some of them mention the police raid at the Iona school at which over a hundred activists were arrested last year

The raid occurred April last when Nottingham police carried out a massive pre-emptive raid on environmental campaigners ,arresting 114 people believed to be planning direct action at Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station. Environmental activists said at the time they suspected the arrests followed a tipoff from a police informer inside the anti-coal power station campaign .
After the raid on the privately-run Iona School at Sneinton where activists were meeting ahead of a peaceful protest, local Nottinghamshire MP Alan Simpson, criticised police for using "SAS-style" tactics . The Guardian wrote at the time that the raid was thought to have been the result of "an intelligence-led operation".

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/04/conspiracy-too-far....html

by l Fri Oct 22, 2010 19:26

Mark 'Stone' has been an undercover police officer from 2000 to at least the end of 2009. We are unsure whether he is still a serving police officer or not. His real name is Mark Kennedy. Investigations into this identity revealed evidence that he has been a police officer, and a face-to-face confession has confirmed this. Mark claims that he left the police force in late 2009, and that before becoming an undercover officer he was a Metropolitan police constable.


Please pass this information on to anyone who may have been in contact with Mark in the last decade, both in the UK and abroad.

This man visited Ireland on couple occassions.

by joe mcivor Sat Oct 23, 2010 18:57

The previous poster wrote that Stone/Kennedy visited Ireland on a couple of occasions.. I hadn't seen that in any of the UK reports.;it would be good to get details asap . It's important to know whether he was involved in any campaigns while here. .

by francis hughes Sat Oct 23, 2010 23:04

bit of a weird lookin fooker all the same, i suppose thats the outcome of cousins bangin, inter marryin is rife amongst the ranks of the coppers over there by the looks of it

by tr Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:28

as far as i know he visited the rossport solidarity camp in mayo a few times, but would not have picked up much information as things were very quiet each time i remember him visiting. he brought the saving iceland people over to talk in mayo as well. back in 2004 or 2005 he was at the eyfa wintermeeting in co. clare where a lot of irish antiwar activists were present.
he was also around in 2006 at the anarchist bookfair and mayday.

by joe mcivor Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:33

Thanks for the info on that tr . The UK left response to the outing of Stone /Kennedy is to say that the Notts activists are traumatized by what Stone /Kennedy did to them , and that for security reasons no more info can be made public at the moment. There’s a brief statement on Indymedia uk:

“ Investigations into his identity revealed evidence that he has been a police officer and a face-to-face confession has confirmed this. The people involved in confronting Mark and getting his confession from him make clear that for security reasons no more information can be made public at this stage.”

This seems inadequate to me . There needs to be an interim statement giving as many established facts as can be published about this man’s activities . There should also be a contact address for those groups and individuals who have concerns over their own security or who have information to pass on about Stone.

From what I have read on indymedia, besides being a cop Stone?kennedy was an IM moderator , an animal rights activist , an anti-fascist activist and an eco warrior . He boasted about having a van and a team of six activists prepared to travel anywhere in Europe . Somebody posted to indymedia ireland over the weekend warning readers about Stone / Kennedy saying that he had visited Ireland on a couple of occasions . Hopefully he wasn’t involved in anything more than what tr pointed out above , but the lack of transparency from the UK will inevitably lead to rumours .

by tim Mon Oct 25, 2010 23:34

he's not the first and wont be the last,there's probably plenty of his kind in rossport.....

by old-timer Mon Jan 10, 2011 09:14

Mark Stone / Kennedy was one of the UK visitors to Dublin in 2004 for the Dublin Grassroots Network Mayday actions. He was heavily involved in the run up to the action - including the search for a squat for people to stay in (which was subsequently raided and people arrested), the delivery of motorcycle helmets to the Wombles (which was stopped by police and the helmets seized), and the inner organisational meetings of anarchists in Dublin. One Dublin activists house was raided and a lot of personal stuff was taken away, despite their limited involvement in the organisation, but they had offered their house as a place for UK visitors to stay. He was trusted by the UK group, was aware of every details of the actions being planned by DGN, and was never questioned or suspected.

In a previous statement, he said that there are other similar officers deep undercover in the UK.

Mark was involved with the "scene" for approximately eight years.

by joe Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:47

The Guardian reported Saturday that the trial of six activists accused of conspiring to break into Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station ( see comment Oct 22 above).were shelved last week and charges against the defendants dropped when “….. prosecutors unexpectedly abandoned the trial after they were asked to disclose classified details about the role the undercover officer played in organising and helping to fund the protest.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/09/undercover-off...vists

Some of the twenty activists who had pled guilty and were sentenced for their parts in the break-in before Christmas are said to be considering options in the light of the Crown prosecutors decision to drop the charges against the six . The prosecution abandoned the case when lawyers asked for papers , which , if presented in court ,would have established that the police had through their agent Kennedy/Stone , been instrumental in planning and funding the Ratcliffe break-ins .

According to Indymedia UK , the case will be the main story on tonight’s Channel 4 Newsnight programme .

by old-timer Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:16

Correction to the above posting - Newsnight is on BBC2, not Channel 4.

by joe Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:43

Good to see more information about the activities of this agent provocateur coming out..

I think this UK indymedia report from 2004 may refer to the Dublin squat activity in 2004 that old timer said Kennedy /Stone was involved with.

“At the end of April, during the lead up to the welcoming celebrations for the accession of ten new member states to the EU, 3 protesters were arrested on the road outside an occupied building in property-market ravaged Dublin. The House that had been occupied had been singled out by a group of activists from Dublin because it had been unoccupied and been left to rot over a period of years. “

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/london/2004/09/2...02026

There seems to have been a lot of rancour and division between Irish and UK activists at the time judging by comments on this indymedia ireland thread.

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=66590

by never trust a cop Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:10

Second police officer to infiltrate environmental activists unmasked
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/12/secon...p=239

Revealed: Second undercover police officer who posed as activist
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/12/second-underco...ficer

She lived in a house in the student quarter of Leeds, showed a keen interest in protest and had an anarchist poster of the Queen Mother with punk hair on her wall. But in fact, unbeknown to her friends, she was an undercover police officer.

Yesterday the woman's double-life began to unravel as she became the second police spy to have infiltrated the environmental protest movement to be unmasked by the Guardian.

Toinght senior police sources confirmed that the woman, who was active in the movement for four years, was in fact an officer from a police force in the south-east seconded to the National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

Second police officer to infiltrate environmental activists unmasked in UK

by never trust a cop Sat Jan 15, 2011 08:57

1- "Officer A" = "Lyn Watson" - Leeds

2nd Undercover Cop Exposed in the UK: Officer A = "Lyn Watson"

The following article from The Guardian was reposted to UK Indymedia with a photo of "Lyn Watson" who was an undercover activist in Leeds, UK. The Guardian hasn't named her or posted her photo, probably since she is still working as an undercover officer elsewhere...

'Officer A', who played key role in climate camp, has been accused of betraying friends worried by her disappearance

She lived in a house in the student quarter of Leeds, showed a keen interest in protest and had an anarchist poster of the Queen Mother with punk hair on her wall. But in fact, unbeknown to her friends, she was an undercover police officer.

Yesterday the woman's double-life began to unravel as she became the second police spy to have infiltrated the environmental protest movement to be unmasked by the Guardian....

The woman disappeared from Leeds in early 2008, citing personal reasons. Although she had a leaving party with close friends, she has not been seen by them since. It is believed that she has since had a role in other police operations unrelated to the protest.

Her role during the Drax operation was key. "She was a driver, did some reccies for actions and of course involved herself in the social aspect of the camp," said Kate Anderson, 29, another friend. "She was present at Drax and Heathrow climate camp actions, against Coryton oil refinery and various anti-capitalist gatherings and protests," she added.

Officer A remains well-remembered at the Common Place, a former pork pie factory in Leeds which has given space and resources to radical groups for six years.

She was one of a group who rented the redbrick premises in Wharf Street as a local contribution to preparations for protests against the Gleneagles G8 summit in 2005. Volunteers at the centre said that she had "certainly been at the core" of the group, and was also involved in the practical side of running a cafe at the centre and the day-to-day finances.

Officer A's credentials were not checked in at the Common Place, which has always been open-minded and welcoming. Apart from hosting groups acting for social change, environmental concern and autonomous movements, it runs English classes for asylum seekers, bike maintenance and repair workshops and social events. "If she was an undercover officer, I imagine she would have found us useful as a way of getting contacts more than anything else," said one of the volunteers, who preferred not to be named. "She was certainly very involved and made some close friendships."

It was also revealed that the second undercover agent – "Officer A" – was arrested for glueing herself to the Department for Transport during a protest against Heathrow's expansion in February 2008.

Officer 'B' revealed as Cardiff based 'Marco' Jacobs

A third undercover police officer has today been revealed by the Guardian. Mark Jacobs, known as 'Marco', operated in Cardiff for four years, infiltrating the Cardiff Anarchist Network (CAN) and other groups including international anti-globalisation networks, No Borders, and the early Climate Camps.

Third undercover police spy unmasked as scale of network emerges
• 44-year-old infiltrated Cardiff anarchist group
• Former girlfriend tells of 'colossal, colossal betrayal'

The woman, who did not want to be named, said "Officer B" arrived in Cardiff in 2005, becoming a key member of the 20-strong Anarchist network in the city and "one of her best friends". They had known each for three years before their relationship and she said she did not suspect his true identity until after he left Cardiff in October 2009, claiming he had been offered a job as a gardener on Corfu.

Mark Kennedy 'took part in attack on Irish police officers at EU summit'
- Undercover police officer was involved in violent protest and helped train other demonstrators, anarchists claim

The undercover policeman Mark Kennedy was in the vanguard of militant anti-capitalist protesters who attacked Irish police officers at an EU summit in Dublin marking the accession of eastern European states to the union, Irish anarchists have told the Guardian.

They allege that he also made visits to Dublin to help train protesters and encouraged other activists to attack the police. This raises further questions about his role as an undercover officer and backs up suggestions he acted as an agent provocateur.

The latest revelations have prompted one leftwing member of the Irish parliament to brand the UK police's secret operation akin to the illegal activities of British state agents operating on the island during the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Michael D Higgins of the Irish Labour party is demanding that the Irish government seek an explanation from Britain as to why one of its undercover policemen was operating in the republic.

"This kind of activity is totally unacceptable … There are many of us who are familiar with the destructive consequences, in terms of democracy, that have flowed from this kind of activity from the 1970s on in relation to Northern Ireland," the veteran Labour TD said.

Although the vast bulk of the demonstrators were peaceful, about 500 attacked the gardaí.

One of those taking part in the protest recalls being astonished by Kennedy's action on the day. "I saw him taking off his balaclava as he was coming out of the crowd. I was amazed that someone would stand close to police lines and take his mask off."

Before the protest it was clear the police had intelligence on the activities of some anti-capitalist activists who had travelled across the Irish Sea from Britain, suggesting that they had an informant in the protest movement. A unit from the garda's Pearse Street station smashed its way into a flat on Leeson Street in Dublin occupied by English anarchists and arrested several people.

The Irish anarchist who played host to Kennedy said that in the build-up to May Day 2004 the Englishman was in a militant mood. "Some people arrested from the UK were kept here for two months but he did not get nicked for that. He was one of the people who were encouraging a confrontation with the garda up at the Parkgate," the activist said.

He said Kennedy made at least two other visits to Ireland over the next two years. These included acting as a trainer on a programme for anarchist activists later in 2004 on civil disobedience. Two years later he joined the mass demonstration against the visit of George Bush to Ireland.

"I found him very personable, very affable. I never suspected him. Growing up in the north of Ireland you know there are people out there who are informers but I never had any strong doubts about him," said the anarchist.

ACAB Rats outed - "Officer A" = "Lyn Watson" - Leeds

ACAB Rats outed - "Officer B" - "44-year-old Cardiff anarchist" = 'Marco' Jacobs

by never trust a cop Sat Jan 15, 2011 09:28

- Eco-spy infiltrated Irish protests

Kennedy spent several days in north Mayo in March 2006 and participated in a workshop for the Shell to Sea campaign. Former members of the Rossport solidarity camp, established after the jailing of the Rossport Five in 2005, recall that he advised on the merits of direct action. He also visited the home of one of the Rossport Five, Willie Corduff, with a group of British and Icelandic activists sympathetic to the campaign.

“It’s unfortunate that you take people in good faith,” Mary Corduff said yesterday. “What we would like to know is who he was working for while he was here?”

“My main concern is not that the police in the UK and Ireland collect information on activists, but that they sometimes act as agent provocateurs in order to discredit the peace movement,” said anti-war activist Ed Horgan.

Labour TD Michael D Higgins has written to the Department of Justice regarding Kennedy’s activities in Ireland. “It is of grave concern,” he said. “This type of activity undermines respect for the law and it is very sinister in that it can damage good causes.”

Irish Times report on the "Eco-spy" in Rossport

Rat 2 : Lyn Watson as a clown

by local hand Sun Jan 16, 2011 02:40

As part of a community and residents alliance, I attended a police briefing about the Farmleigh meeting in Blanchardstown police station. As we were shown into the meeting room, we observed a conference centre next door with photos/locations etc.. all around the walls. Sitting in the room were senior coppers as well a two individuals. One had a shaved head as was aged about twenty, dressed in street casuals and the other was a long dreadlocked bloke in crustie clothing. Both were undercover cops. Don't know if they were Irish. Coppers later told some of the elderly residents that the 'wombles' were hell bent on chaos. Usual scare stories.

by joe Sun Jan 16, 2011 09:46

What Local Hand writes above is very interesting . The London Times reported yesterday that Kennedy/Stone was one of the main instigators of the riot at Farmleigh..

A Dublin-based activist with the Workers Solidarity Movement said Kennedy had stayed at his home twice, according to the Irish Times.
"The activist, who did not wish to be identified, said he had met Kennedy several times between 2004 and 2006, both in Ireland and at the G8 protests in Scotland in 2005. “He was very encouraging of the more militant end of direct action.” '

I have checked on the WSM website , but haven't seen any reference there to Stone/ Kennedy, who clearly acted as an agent provocateur in Ireland on Mayday 2004. One would have thought that some of the people arrested or batoned at Farmleigh House that Mayday weekend would have an interest in knowing about the activities of this British policeman/provocateur - who was apparently brazen enough to take his balaclava off on the night while encouraging demonstrators to attack the Irish police .

The Department of Justice told the Irish Times that it had “no information on any alleged activities in this jurisdiction by the person in question”. This is a matter that should surely be pursued . Michael D Higgins is right when he says that it is a matter of grave concern.

In 2004 the WSM and Dublin Grassroots Network (DGN) had after much planning been successful in bringing large numbers onto the streets in opposition to the state agenda .
The WSM's report from May 2004 indicates that the policy for mass mobilization had been fought for at planning meetings and adapted ,despite opposition from within the DGN , by those who thought that “all our actions should involve direct action”.

“For the first time the movement mobilized large number of people from outside its own ranks, in a demonstration that was in direct defiance of the Irish governments attempt to ban such demonstrations.” see;
http://struggle.ws/wsm/news/2004/farmleigh1may.html

It seems to me that ,coming only a little over a year after the mass antiwar march of Feb 2003 , both the Irish and British police forces were extremely disturbed by an emerging mass movement and were intent on preventing it.turning into something bigger.
The WSM has known about Stone/ Kennedy since last October. Surely it’s time that they issued a statement on this matter.

by Joe Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:35

A German Green MP , Hans-Christian Ströbele , has called on Germany's parliamentary control committee and interior committee to investigate the role of Kennedy/ Stone who was “particularly active” among German protest groups during the preparations for the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007 .

“The federal government must reveal whether Kennedy possibly committed or initiated crimes in Germany as an agent provocateur,” Ströbele told Der Spiegel.

He said that should it appear that Kennedy had broken laws while in Germany, he should face prosecution. “German law also applies to British agents,” he said

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20110115-32447.html

by joe Sun Jan 16, 2011 13:36

Solicitor Mike Schwarz who represented 20 campaigners convicted of planning the Ratcliffe-on-Soar action as well as the six whose cases collapsed earlier this week has called for a “full and robust independent inquiry ” into the role of Kennedy/ Stone.

Such an inquiry is necessary in Ireland as well as in Britain , but more importantly the political implications of the case need to be thoroughly examined by all anti-capitalists.

Some on the left still call for the type of “direct actions” encouraged by Kennedy/Stone . They argue that with bold deeds it is possible to by-pass the difficult but essential political work needed to build an independent , class-based mass movement . But only a mass movement can successfully challenge the entrenched power of the state .

It is becoming increasingly evident to more and more people that the state's agenda is to impoverish the vast majority of the population to preserve the privileges of the financial elite . At the same time what have passed for democratic institutions in Ireland and all over the world are being exposed as organs of state rule - useless and in fact hostile to real political change .

The state’s response to the inevitable emergence of a mass movement against poverty and war is to try either to divert the movement behind left-sounding politicians and trades union leaders who are capable of fostering parliamentary illusions – note the rise of the ULA - or else encourage the sort of direct action groups that it has ample experience of infiltrating and controlling.
Direct action certainly has to be taken ,but it will never succeed if undertaken by a small group of people.

by joe Sun Jan 16, 2011 18:01

The Irish edition of the Sunday Times reports today on Stone/ Kennedy's Irish connections saying that his background is Irish and that his family are from outside of Kanturk in Cork. The policeman had a house there and he used to travel there regularly to visit his family .making no secret of the fact that he was a secret policeman to locals .

The newspaper says that the six Nottingham people who "confronted" Stone/Kennedy last year agreed not to publish these details about the police spy so as to protect his family .This is at odds with the reasons for not giving out more details about the provocateur at the time . In October and up until last week the line was that the silence was necessary to protect activists who may have been caught up in the policeman's web .

by joe Sun Jan 16, 2011 21:05

A video interview with Kennedy/Stone in today’s Mail on Sunday . The agent provocateur says in the clip that the British police were at all times fully aware of his activities when he went abroad . He tells the interviewer that “…… everything that I did had to be authorized at the highest level. “
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347478/Mark-Ke....html

by joe Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:59

In today’s Irish Times we learn for the first time that Kennedy/ Stone took part in the demonstration against George W. Bush’s visit to Ireland in 2004 and met campaigners opposed to US military use of Shannon airport in 2005, The IT reports that “several activists” who met the agent provocateur in Ireland have said he encouraged more confrontational tactics. The IT reiterates what a spokesman for the Department of Justice told it last week - that it had “no information on any alleged activities in this jurisdiction by the person in question.” In other words, the British police did not tell their Irish colleagues that they were sending one of their undercover agents over to incite a riot against the gardai .

In 2004 RTE devoted many radio and television news slots , as well as a full Prime Time program to scare-stories about anarchist hotheads over from England intent on causing mayhem on the streets of Dublin . Now that one of the " main instigators" of the riot turns out to have been a British policeman , the Irish national broadcaster doesn’t seem to have a lot to say on the matter. No surprise there . The Irish Independent for some reason misses the chance to be salacious this morning .

No passionate denouncements no angry condemnations , not a word of outrage from the anarchists of the WSM so far , despite clear evidence that Stone/ Kennedy attempted to set-up them up on Mayday 2004 for batoning ,arrest and imprisonment . They only seem to want to talk about the matter in confidence to the "corporate media" .

by joe mc Wed Jan 19, 2011 09:56

Mark Kennedy denied in the Mail on Sunday interview (see link below) that he had "gone rogue. " He was reporting to the police right up to the time that he was confronted by the Nottingham activists in October last year .

Rossport campaigner John Monaghan told Mayo News in an interview published yesterday :

“In a Daily Mail interview broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday night (January 16), Kennedy rubbished reports he had gone native and was a rogue agent. He confirmed he was tracked everywhere he went and that his whereabouts were known and sanctioned at the very highest level. If that’s the case, then there are serious questions to be answered. Were the British Metropolitan police allowing a British agent operate in Ireland without the knowledge of the Garda Síochána or the Minster of Justice? Or, on the other hand, did the gardaí and the minister know about these operations and sanction them? No matter what the scenario, there are serious questions to be answered. Some one in authority in Ireland must be held accountable,”
see:

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&vie...emid=

by NTAC Wed Jan 19, 2011 22:22

IMC-UK has a main feature up about this unfolding story and the Guardian has just published publicly the faces of the second 2 undercover cops. With the flack the UK cop force are getting they now admit they lied about using undercovers during the G20 (during which they killed Ian Tomilson), their story is now that they used plain clothes but they werent used as "agent provocateurs", but in time will we see them having to change track again and having to own up on this count?

- Three undercover political Police unmasked as infiltrators into UK Anarchist, Anti-Fascist and Climate Justice movements (IMC-UK)
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/472363.html

- Undercover police: Officer A named as Lynn Watson
Lynn Watson posed as an environmental activist for five years, claiming to be a care worker living in Bournemouth
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/19/undercover-pol...atson

- Undercover police: Officer B identified as Mark Jacobs
Mark Jacobs, not thought to be his real name, infiltrated anarchist groups and had an affair with at least one woman
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/19/undercover-pol...acobs

- Plain-clothes Metropolitan police officers were at G20 demonstrations
Metropolitan police admits senior commander gave false information to MPs when quizzed about protests in 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/19/plain-clothes-...e-g20

The Metropolitan police was forced to admit today that one of its senior commanders gave false information to MPs when he denied having plain-clothes officers in the crowd at the G20 demonstrations in London in 2009.

Giving evidence to the House of Commons home affairs committee a month after the protest – in which thousands of demonstrators clashed with police – Commander Bob Broadhurst insisted there were no plain-clothes officers among the crowd, saying it would have been too dangerous to do so.

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met's commissioner, told the committee at the initial hearing that "the idea that we would put agent provocateurs in the crowd is wholly antithetic to everything I have known about policing for the best part of 34 years".

Lynn Watson, previously referred to as Officer A.

Officer B claimed to be a landscape gardener and long-distance lorry driver named Mark Jacobs.

by NTAC Wed Jan 19, 2011 22:54

'I'm the victim of smears': Undercover policeman denies bedding a string of women during his eight years with eco-warriors
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347478/Mark-Ke....html

How beautiful redhead girlfriend blew eco-spy's cover after finding passport with his real name
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1347561/Underco....html

Daily Mail Vid interview - http://bcove.me/lh4qwi92

Describing a life lived ‘constantly on the edge’, he claims his former police bosses are searching for him in America, where he fled last year.

He has received death threats from activists and sleeps in a barricaded room.

‘I am in fear for my life and don’t know where to turn,’ he says. Mr Kennedy refutes suggestions that he crossed the line, became an agent provocateur and played a central role in organising the very protests police wanted him to sabotage.

Mr Kennedy is estranged from his wife, with whom he has two children, a boy of 12 and a ten-year-old girl. (Apperently living in Cork, the sons name is Jack)

‘My son has been crying and says he never wants to see me again,’ he says.

He is on the run, he says, from both his former police bosses and from activists who have made death threats against him. But he has also been swamped with offers for book and movie rights to his life story.

Speaking for the first time about what he calls ‘my living nightmare’, he says:

‘I can’t sleep. I have lost weight and am constantly on edge. I barricade the door with chairs at night. I am in genuine fear for my life. I have been told that my former bosses from the force are out here in America looking for me. I have been told by activists to watch my back as people are out to get me.

‘I am physically and mentally exhausted,’ he says. ‘I have had some dark thoughts. I thought I could end this very quickly.

I was told, “At least you had a great party and now it’s over.” Then the text came telling me I had three weeks.

‘I had to clear out of the house where I was living in Nottingham. I was made to hand over my Mark Stone passport, driving licence and credit cards. I was then driven to Ireland.

'A living nightmare': Mark Kennedy in new apartment in the US (Photographer is LA based)

Estranged: Mark Kennedy's Irish Catholic wife Edel, living in Cork with their 2 kids

by NTAC Thu Jan 20, 2011 00:02

The point is well made that what is happening in the UK is a form of political policing, whereby lots of people are arrested, taken to court and given bail conditions thereby taking them out of the game, similar to the "decapitation" methods used at the COP15 protests in Denmark 2009.

Part 1 - BBC Newsnight: discussion about Mark Kenned/Stone, undercover policeman, 10th January 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZzn-HgJZOU

Part 2 - BBC Newsnight: discussion about Mark Kenned/Stone, undercover policeman, 10th January 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDttEnl8r34

Newsnight on Police Infiltration of Climate Movement - 13th January 2011 (MOLE A )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge63cY8WNUQ

by 4 down, how many more to go? Thu Jan 20, 2011 09:24

Ex-wife of police spy tells how she fell in love and had children with him
· Police spy encouraged ex-wife to change name to keep cover
· He allegedly identified other undercover police to her
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/19/wife-...ldren

Jim Sutton, an articulate, if at times moody, 34-year-old fitness fanatic who relished his role as the group's driver, a function that earned him the sobriquet "Jim the Van"; and Laura, 28, an idealistic activist. Laura (not her real name) did not know that this new acquaintance, a man she would go on to marry and have children with, was in fact Jim Boyling, a police officer living undercover among eco-activists.

"I was reading stories that this was happening to so many other women who were at risk of falling for their lies," says Laura, who was divorced from Boyling two years ago. "Having got through what I got through with my children I felt I had knowledge that could help other people and that I needed to do that."

Laura has told her story to the Guardian in the hope that it will serve as a warning to police chiefs that their surveillance operation "wrecks lives".

Andrew James Boyling had adopted the alias "Jim Sutton" around 1995, and initially joined hunt saboteur groups and, according to friends, took part in anti-GM crop protests in Ireland and a "food summit" in Rome in 1996.

Tthe purpose of his police work was to infiltrate the closed ranks of those figures pulling the strings of Reclaim the Streets, an environmental group counting anarchists and anti-capitalists among its ranks.

Laura says she became aware Boyling was "under-developed ideologically". "The thing about Jim is that he never really says much. He seemed to be bright but there seemed to be holes in his political development," she says.

Boyling, however, may have struggled to balance his two lives.

"He said he missed that [activist] life – he said it was great because it was like being God. He knew everyone's secrets on both sides and got to decide what to tell who and decide upon people's fate."

But it was not until two years later, in 2007, that Laura recalls two of Boyling's police colleagues visiting their home. She was told that both officers, to whom she was introduced by name, had worked as undercover agents.

Boyling later named one other supposed activist as a undercover police officer, and gave identifying descriptions of several others, according to Laura. If true, the suggestion that, as well as marrying an activist, Boyling had identified fellow undercover operatives could prove highly damaging for police chiefs, who say the actions of Kennedy are a rare example of "Stockholm syndrome".

Jim Boyling - 4th UK spy, life wrecker, RTS`er + anti-GM protester in Ireland

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Giuseppe Conlon House/ London Catholic Worker Fri Jan 21, 2011 09:00

Last week was the 20th. anniversary of the opening shot of this ongoing war on the people of Iraq. I put out a press release, hoping their would be some bites that would promote the events we were organisng to mark the occasion.

Later that day I got word that a journalist from the Irish Times was trying to contact me. A pleasant surprise, I thought, as the same newspaper did their best to get us sent down for the '03 "Pitstop Ploughshares" action at Shannon Airport - reporting the lie (pre-trial) on their front page that we cost the Irish tax payer $2.5 million (see the WikiLeaks cables exposing that the U.S. picked up the bill) AND the Gardia in the hangar had been assauted by us on the night (see testimony in 3 trials under oath by said Gardai that I "had comforted him not assaulted hjim"), the Irish Times had not responded to my previous press releases in relation to the mention of the Pitstop Ploughsraes/ Shannon 5" in secret Dublin U.S. Embassy cables exposed by WikiLeaks a month earlier. So I have safely assumed I, Pitstops, the militarisation of Shannon airport have been censored by the Irish media (one of the most centralise and housebroken in the world!) So this interest (I assumed in response to my press release) was a pleasant surprise.

Not so.....
after playing telephone tag with the Irish Times, the reporter got through on the phone to me.
She asked, "Did you now Mark Kennedy or Mark Stones
I felt like replying "Well not in the biblical sense!", but thought better of it. No time for flippancy!

I had met the dude twice once had at a Glusitaicht (sp?) thang in County Clare, we both presented at and once at a punk gig at Bohemnians FC - a fundraiser for actions at the G20 in Scotland. He was in the comapny of an english woman I had met back in my Liverpool daze...at a joint Dockers/ Reclaim the Streets effort in summer of '96!. So I was chatting to her rather than him. I can't recall giving him a lot of time. I definitely did not buy him a pint!

The reporter asked me "Were you suspicious of Stones/ Kennedy?"
I replied "I'm generally suspicious of English people, that's how I was raised!"
I assume that aboriginal people are suspicious of me, fair enough! Not proud of my attitudes but they are what they are....I'm working on 'em!

She wanted more information. I wanted her to broaden out her investigation. I tried to tell her that the Catholic Worker were heavilly infiltarted by Alan Fossey/ "Alaister?" working for BAE in Liverpool '96-'99.
Photo of "Alan Fossey"/ Alaister/??? here........
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85347?search_text=mark+...16467

That following my role in trial support and the August 1996 acquital of the "Seeds of Hope Ploughshares", I (among others) had been hit with a high court injunction by BAE (even though I had only been in Europe for 7 weeks, after a 17 year absence!), that a former policewoman was approached by Lancashire Special Branch and offered £200 for every meeting of the emerging Liverpool Catholic Worker/ Ploughshares network she attended (along with car, creche facilities for her kidz, bonuses for information on organisers), this woman of integrity responded to the Special Branch offer by going into a second meeting with Special Branch wired up and taping it.

Special Branch attempted infiltration became a page 2 article in The Guardian in September of 1996 (Our mistake was to assume this failed attempt would be the only attempt). The acquital (first one in the history of the then 16 year old Plowshares movement...two of our folks in the U.S. werre serving 18 year sentences for doing a lot less damage than these four acquitted women). The Liverpool acquittal was obviously
"....shakin their windows
And rattlin their walls...."
...and resources were bening mobilised against us.

BAE spy Alan Fossey was then moved from his base in Hull to Liverpool vicinity . We now have information that Fossey was former British Amry attached to 14 Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_Intelligence_Company

"author by Declanpublication date Sat Nov 27, 2010 14:19
Sorry to join this debate half way through but I may be able to help.

When the Fossey affair broke CO’R circulated the picture of him, someone said that they might recognise him. I have spoken to them and they believe that his real name was Alastair (note spelling) but couldn’t recall his surname. CO’R is right that he’s ex-army and he was attached to 14 Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland but left the army after he returned to his original unit. He was apparently a sergeant. "

More on the Liverpool Catholic Worker/Plowshares infiltration and the infiltration of the larger more moderate "Campaign Aganists the Arms Trade" here......
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85347?search_text=mark+...homas

I also informed the Irish Times journalist of the recent FBI raids and infiltration of the anti-war movement in the U.S. and the pending grand jury to deal with them
see this youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ikSP-79PJU

She did not seem to be interested in putting her story in a broader context.
She wanted more leads. I suggested she could try WSM as they were more involved in G20 Scotland and the big May Day Dublin organsing than I was...at that time I was on bail for 3 1/2 years in Ireland awating trial/s for the Pitstops and had to be careful not to be lifted if I wanted to stay on the streets doing pre-trial/s organsing...one of the reasons I didn't go to the G20 in Scotland and kept away from the cops during that Dublin May Day. On request Dublin Catholic Worker did offer hosiptality to the parents of the Womble woman who was busted at the squat Kennedy has set upand did what we could to support the daughter Womble as she awaited court.

I then emailed the WSM contacts, I had, informing them that the Irish Times journalist maybe making inquiries. At no time did I give any names of any persons to the Irish Times in relation to this story. Did I do the right thing? Dunno!

I remain focused on the ongoing wars on Iraq and Afghnistan and solidarity with Bradley Manning ...this Stones/ Kennedy thang is not a big part of my day. I'm more interested in Fossey and deconstructing the mistakes I made (not trusting my intuitiuiton, thinking the Spoecial Branch woman would be the only attempt to infiltrates us in Libverpool etc)......I wish CAAT would co-operate in this but they have their own agenda...maybe it is finiancial I dunno...they have never approached me?Liverpool Catholic Worker to pool knowledge of their and our infiltration in the late '90's. Go figure?

by fintan Fri Jan 21, 2011 09:25

Below are replies to Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris on this:

* 137. To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if the Gardaí were aware that a person (details supplied), a member of the British police force, was operating here as an undercover agent; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Martin Ferris

* 130. To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if he has contacted his British counterparts in relation to the disclosure that a British undercover policeman (details supplied) was operating in this jurisdiction for several years.

- Martin Ferris

REPLY.
I am aware of reports which have appeared in relation to the activities of the person in question.

I can assure the Deputy that, as with any other individual, the person in question for so long as he may have been here would have been completely subject to our laws. Any person who may have information that the person in any way contravened those laws should make that information available to the appropriate authorities.

In view of the reports which have appeared I have sought a report from the Garda authorities in relation to any relevant information which is available on the activities of the person in question and when I have received that report I will consider whether, and what, further action may be necessary.

I am also aware of reports that a series of investigations are under way in the United Kingdom in relation to the activities of this person.

I should add that I am informed that the Department of Foreign Affairs has contacted the British Embassy about the reports which have appeared seeking clarification of the matter.

by Fossey? Fri Jan 21, 2011 13:02

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/472468.html?c=on...63357

by anarchist fu*king cops Sun Jan 23, 2011 14:36

Promiscuity 'regularly used as tactic', says former officer, contradicting claims from Acpo

Undercover police officers routinely adopted a tactic of "promiscuity" with the blessing of senior commanders, according to a former agent who worked in a secretive unit of the Metropolitan police for four years.

The former undercover policeman claims that sexual relationships with activists were sanctioned for both men and women officers infiltrating anarchist, leftwing and environmental groups.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/22/undercover-pol...vists

by joe Mon Jan 24, 2011 19:36

InterNectu reports on how the police in Britain posing as animal rights activists have been inciting acts of violence through the Indymedia network .

"Those familiar with those campaigns will be aware that the campaigns are alleged to have included violent actions against individuals, including a a letter bomb in the Hillgrove Cats campaign, and the removal of Gladys Hammond from her grave"
http://thegentleawakening.ning.com/forum/topics/uk-poli...ed-of

by joe Mon Jan 24, 2011 20:46

Forty women picketed police headquarters New Scotland Yard, London this morning in protest against the sexual abuse of women by undercover police.

They demanded police make public the names and identities of undercover officers who have worked or are working to infiltrate movements for progressive social change, so women can know whether they have also been abused by the state, and can decide whether to join other women in considering legal action against the police.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/472702.html

by anarchist fu*king cops Thu Jan 27, 2011 09:37

Mark Kennedy infiltrated German anti-fascists, Bundestag told

Police chief tells German MPs in secret sitting that undercover police officer broke law while in Germany

The international row over undercover police officer Mark Kennedy escalated tonight after the full scope of his activities were revealed in a secret sitting at the German parliament.

Kennedy first broke the law during protests at Heiligendamm, the town near Rostock where the G8 meetings took place in 2007. He later committed arson, Der Spiegel said, during a demonstration in Berlin at which he set fire to containers.

The revelations are published today in Der Spiegel, which says Kennedy's involvement in criminal activity during his time in Germany highlights concerns that he was working as an agent provocateur and not just an observer of the activists.

Kennedy spent long periods in Germany and lived with individuals in the "black block" anarchist movement during his time in the country.

by Ding Dong Thu Jan 27, 2011 19:39

Looks like the under the covers cop from blighty has been a very naughty boy. The German police have informed the Bundestag that Mark "flash" Kennedy has committed arson while operating in the country. Now as far as I can remember several Shell to Sea activists were hauled up to the circuit court on arson charges about four years ago. They were aquitted of these charges brought against them after a fire broke out in the refinery compound at Belnaboy. It is safe to say that this investigation is still open. Well it looks like a new suspect has emerged.

Questions to be answered!!

by Errol Turner Fri Jan 28, 2011 21:18

There used to be a saying in the 1960s from the black Panthers,Weathermen and Minutemen.
."How do you spot the FBI,/CIA/Cop plant in the group??"Hes the one always planning illegal activities,and having alot of money!!!"

Hate to say it..But everyone was suckerpunched right and proper in these organisations where this bloke was active.

by BFClarkeNUJ Sat Jan 29, 2011 09:12

My first introduction to real politik (politics based primarily on practical and material factors rather than ideological, romantic, notions and premises, as is often the case in Ireland) was shortly after I arrived in in London at the start of the 70's. I was staying in the home of the Guildford Four, in Algernon Road in Kilburn, well aware of their innocence, as they received six life sentences for something they had absolutely no connection with. That story is portrayed reasonably accurately in the film,"in the Name of the Father".

The party I joined was the WRP who maintained as Trotskyists of international socialism, that James Connolly's writings were wooly and that Irish nationalism was counter-revolutionary, in the scheme of the International struggle ot eh working class. Some of the left worked hard, primarily in the United Troops Out Movement to get the British out of Ireland. In fact some of them would put a lot of Irish activists to shame, with their total dedication, commitment and energy to the cause but the British left was and still is wracked by division and infiltration. I eventually disagreed with them strongly on Ireland and particular Connolly and left. One of Connolly's better known statements is, "the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour and the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland. Unfortunately both in Ireland and in Britain, Labour and Trade Union careerist leadership have betrayed both real Labour and the ordinary people of both Ireland and Britain.

However I learned a lot from the Trotskyite party particularly about Ireland's place in a general Internationale. One of the biggest enemies of the Trotskyite parties are the Stalinists. Stalin had Trotsky assassinated in Mexico with an ice pick in the head, as he perceived him, as the principal danger to Stalin's own mix of national socialism, which essentially is a close relative of Hitler's fascism. However what a lot of the left fail to realize, is that Ireland in both of its British devised scum states, is still primarily a British colony, with Ireland still engaged in centuries old struggle, to liberate itself from colonialism, with the people of no property and working class, divided on an ongoing daily basis by British Imperialist interference, with its policy of divide and conquer, now compounded by corporate Europe's form of fascism. The EU is not about the unification of the people of Europe, its about the unification of Corporate Europe.

The daily working class struggle of the people of no property has to contend on an ongoing basis with various sophisticated forms of fooling the people, using their own community leadership against them. Unfortunately many of the Stalinists have like the Catholic Church become part of the problem, with many of them used unwittingly by the establishment, as tools to defeat the ongoing evolution and revolution of the people. The infiltration of working class struggle and the deception of the people with distractions such as the modern form of astroturfing is just one example. The struggle for Irish independence and unification of the Irish people, is part of the international class war against, the monster of anti-human, capitalism and its imperialist tentacles all over the planet, with its ongoing daily wars on the people of no property throughout the world. Ireland continues to play its part in the realization of the ongoing heroic victory of the comrades of the Internationale. The media in the Irish Blog helps put that in context. For details go to..
Irish Blog

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Giuseppe Conlon House/ London Tue Feb 01, 2011 05:44

What do you mean by Catholic church?

Do you mean the hierarchy or do you mean the (1.2 billion) people, the pluralim of reigious orders and lay movements, the modern martyrs of El Salvador and the most militant sections of the nonvioent antiwar resistancein the U.S.?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/934604446/hit-and-stay

The Catholic church is a voluntary organisation...you can come, you can go, you come back again, you can stay away....you know where the door is...and it swings both ways.

I have spent my adult life in the anarcho pacifst Catholic Worker (CW )movement founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933 NYC. Dorothy was always a card carrying member of the IWW. Great IWW folk singer Utah Philips R.I.P. was politicised by CW Amon Hennacy in the Joe Hill CW house in Utah after returning as a combat veteran from the Korean War. There was no pressure for him to become a Catholic as he lived and worked at he Joe Hill CW House for those five years. He did not become a Cathoic but always ceebrated the Catholc Worker movement. See his track "Anarchy" on his collabiration with Ani di Franco "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Past_Didn%27t_Go_Anywhere

Thanks BF for writng the above piece about the Gulford Four, we have tried to keep that memory alive in London by naming our CW house of hospitality for destitute refugees and nonviolent anti-war resistance after Giuseppe Conlon of the "Maguire 7" Giuseppe's lawyer Gareth Peirce spoke at our opening last November
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/98254?search_text=giuse...house

She then returned on short notice with Gerry Conlon of the "Guiford 4" a couple of weeks later for a morning of song and celebration with our guests and voiunteers.

Why is this significant? Besides the fine Oscar nominated film "In the Name of the Father", Giuseppe's memory has, like himsef when he was alive, been buried alive. Dublin artist Joe Black went to write a song about Giuseppe and the work of Giuseppe Conlon House. He looked high and low through the bookshops of Dublin for a book that referenced Giuseppe, the "Maguire 7" or the "Guilford 4"...couldn't find one. He went to the central library and asked if they had such a book? They have one such book in their system, it is located in the hardly accessible Mountjoy Prison library. Go figure?

These Dublin bookshops are full of the stories of 1916 and not one book about the Guiford Four or Maguire 7 or Giuseppe Conlon. Why? 1916 is the creation myth of redemptive violence of the elites of Fine Gale and Finna Fail who manage to spin the event, erasing its anti-imperialist themes and heighten its heroic vioence to justify a U.S. miitary base at Shannon Airport. Giuseppe was a humble and nonviolent man trying to be a human being in a vioent situation. Giuseppe was staunch. The British offered him a deal - a transfer to the north of Ireand and an early relese. HIs response was "Is my son coming? I came here to get him and I'm not leaving without him!" And so Giuseppe dies in custody in Engand and they refuse to unload his body four times at Belfast Airport..

Catholic Workers and the Berrigans know about spies and infiltrators. They were there, along with a corruptchurch hierarchy, with Judas in the original story. The gospels are a never ending story if you invest your life in them.

We know of the spy who turned in the Camden 28
http://www.camden28.org/

"Camden 28" (pbs) Trailer focusing on the informer (3 mins)
http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/trailers_camden.html

We know about Boyd Douglas and the targeting of Phil and Dan Berrigan by Hoover's FBI, the Harrisburg Conspiracy trial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrisburg_Seven

I personally know about "Alan Fossey"/ Alaister formerly of 14 company
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_Intelligence_Company infiltatration of our Catholic Worker in Liverpool and I'm still kicking myself for not going with my initial intuition about him. Was he reporting staright back to the Indon Embassy imperiling the lives of the families of East Timorese activist exiles iving and working with us? Probably
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85347?search_text=bae%2...14688

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:53

So why do you lend your positive actions to such a corrupt institution, Ciaron? Are you not just whiting their sepulchre for them?

Nor is it as 'open' as you state, '..you can come, you can go..'.

They conscript impressionable kids and terrify them into obedience, often as we have seen for perverted and organised individuals to exploit. And then the same 'corrupt church heirarchy' swings its machinery behind these criminals to protect them if they are caught in the act.

You can invest your life in the Koran, I Ching, Tibetan Book of the Dead, or any and all of these ancient mythology chronicles. Or in literature in general, and still oppose the bullshit you do without endorsing this corrupt heirarchy and giving it unmerited credence, from behind which it can operate with reinforced impunity.

by Joe Sun Feb 13, 2011 19:54

A clearly presented overview of Kennedy's activities, compiled by Hydra, can be seen here :

http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Mark_Kennedy:_A_chr...ities

“We are currently compiling similar lists about “Lynn Watson” and “Marco Jacobs”.
If you have useful info, please email: hydra@riseup.net”

“.....keep comments and suggestions coming and as long as they verifiable we will add them as we have done so far. ”
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/02/473791.html?c=on...64705

by V for vendetta Mon May 09, 2011 18:03

a recent article by george monbiot related to this matter about private militias funded by access to police data at a huge profit
worth a read in relation to this topic

Quote:
"Kennedy was run by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit. This is a body composed largely of police, but it was, at the time, under the control of no police force. It answered instead to an organisation whose continued existence is an affront to both democracy and justice. The Association of Chief Police Officers is not a public body. It is not subject to freedom of information requests or democratic scrutiny. It is a private limited company. It funds itself partly through the state monopoly it has been granted by the government – the kind of Royal licence that Charles II used to issue – to sell public property. It flogs items of data from the police national computer, each of which costs 60p to retrieve, for £70 apiece."

full article here:
http://www.monbiot.com/2011/04/19/britains-private-mili...tias/

by Indignant Fri Jun 17, 2011 19:14

Spy cop Mark Kennedy hints at explosive scandal in prosecution of green activists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/15/secre...ation

Secret policeman Mark Kennedy offers to help infiltration inquiry
- Undercover police officer raises questions about decision to charge just 26 of the environmental activists arrested before power station protest

Mark Kennedy, the undercover police officer who infiltrated environmental campaign groups, has offered to co-operate with an independent inquiry into aspects of his deployment, hinting he has potentially explosive information surrounding the prosecution of activists accused of planning to break into a power station.

by Suzanne Mon Nov 14, 2011 22:14

What about the feelings over the girl who built her life around u also your wife and kids u should be serving a prison sentence for the misery that u put them through

by Joe Mc Thu Dec 29, 2011 15:08

Indymedia Nottingham reports that a group of women who were unwittingly involved in relationships with undercover cops have initiated legal action against the London Metropolitan Police over the psychological suffering they’ve endured.

Eight former lovers of undercover cops have started legal action against police chiefs. The women include three former lovers of Mark Kennedy, two former lovers of Jim Boyling, and women who had relationships with “Mark Cassidy”, Bob Lambert and “John Barker” – a name that doesn’t seem to have been associated with undercover policing of activism before.

Full statement:

Birnberg Peirce and partners have commenced legal action against the Metropolitan Police on behalf of eight women who were deceived into having long term intimate relationships with undercover police officers. The five undercover officers* were all engaged in infiltrating environmental and social justice campaign groups between the mid 1980’s and 2010 and had relationships with the women lasting from 7 months and the longest spanning 9 years.

The women assert that the actions of the undercover officers breached their rights as protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, including Article 3 (no one shall be subject to inhumane and degrading treatment) and Article 8 (respect for private and family life, including the right to form relationships without unjustified interference by the state), The women are also bringing claims for deceit, assault, misfeasance in public office and negligence, and seek to highlight and prevent the continuation of psychological, emotional and sexual abuse of campaigners and others by undercover police officers.

After deceiving at least one woman into having a relationship with him, one of the officers, Bob Lambert, went on to supervise other undercover officers who had long term intimate relationships with campaigners. This, and the extended period in which these relationships were undertaken confirms that recently exposed police spies were not ‘rogue officers’, but were in fact part of an unacceptable pattern of engaging in long term intimate relationships (including embedding themselves in extended families) as part of the infiltration of environmental and other activist groups, which seems to have been condoned at high levels.

Through their collective experiences the women have identified a pattern that covers more than two decades of police operations and is therefore indicative of systemic abuse of female political activists involved in a range of different groups. Officers are given extensive training in how to spin tales, groom, deceive and embed themselves deeply in protest movements. After the women formed loving relationships with these men, they disappeared when their posting ended, leaving the women to cope with the trauma of not knowing whether or not the person they were in love with would return, not knowing if they should be worried or angry and trying to discover what was real and what was not. In one case where the officer re-appeared, his training enabled him to create a new deceit and further abuse the woman who had been left in a state of shock and trauma. She extricated herself with the help of Women’s Aid and left for Refuge with her children. The responsibility for the lasting damage this caused goes right back to the undercover operation by the Metropolitan police and the training they gave him in the art of duplicity.

The subsequent discovery that the men they had loved were in fact undercover police officers spying on them and others they knew was a horrifying experience, leaving the women with both a sense of violation and difficulties in trusting others and their own judgement. Discovering that the fundamentals of the relationship were lies has left them trying to comprehend how someone they shared dreams with, knew so intimately and trusted so deeply had never actually existed This abuse has had a severe and lasting emotional impact on those affected.
Quote: “We believe our case highlights institutionalised sexism within the police. It is incredible that if the police want to search someone’s house they are required to get the permission of a judge, yet if they want to send in an agent who may live and sleep with activists in their homes, this can happen without any apparent oversight!”

”We are bringing this case because we want to see an end to the sexual and psychological abuse of campaigners and others by undercover police officers. It is unacceptable that state agents can cultivate intimate and long lasting relationships with political activists in order to gain so called intelligence on those political movements.”

So far twelve inquiries have been set up in relation to undercover officers, however none of them are focussed on the human rights abuses perpetrated by the unit, none is independent and none of them are open and transparent.

  * The five undercover officers are Mark Kennedy, Jim Boyling, Bob Lambert and two others who have not yet been exposed, known when undercover as John Barker and Mark Cassidy.
http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/2284 .indymedia.org.uk/articles/2284

by Serf Thu Dec 29, 2011 18:41

Thanks for highlighting this story again Joe. How deep does the rabbit hole go?

Here's some links with updates on these infiltrators (now 7 apparently but two still unidentified)
more links on the guardian site

Guardian story on Boyling:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/19/undercover-police-law-men-there

Guardian stories on Lambert:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/23/police-spy-tricked-lover-activist
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/16/academic-bob-lambert-former-police-spy

Guardian story on Mark Jacobs:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/19/undercover-police-officer-mark-jacobs

Guardian story on Lynne Watson:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/19/undercover-police-officer-lynn-watson

UK indy on Peter Black:
http://mob.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/472708.html?c=on

Bob Lambert

Jim Boyling

Mark Jacobs

Lynn Watson

Peter Black

by Joe Mc Sat Jan 21, 2012 18:39

"Two undercover police officers secretly fathered children with political campaigners they had been sent to spy on and later disappeared completely from the lives of their offspring."

Guardian report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/20/undercover-pol...vists

by Joe Mc Fri Mar 14, 2014 21:19

Three years on and Indymedia UK is still determined to bring the ongoing police infiltration of left-wing and environmental activists to the attention of the public .The front page of UK indymedia is currently dedicated to the story of activist women who were deceived into forming long-term personal relations by undercover cops . The London Metropolitan Police's attempt to have the cases being brought against it by the women struck out appears to have been unsuccessful. More details of the campaign to support the women can be found at indymedia uk.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/

"***STOP PRESS 13th March: The Metropolitan Police has withdrawn its application to strike out women's case as the legal battle continues. Solidarity picket on Tuesday 18th March will go ahead as planned.***

"Five of the eight women taking legal action against the Metropolitan Police, due to undercover police officers deceiving them into long term intimate relationships, will be opposing Scoland Yard's attempt to have their cases struck out on Tuesday 18th March. The women and their Police Spies Out of Lives support group have called for a solidarity picket outside the Royal Court of Justice, The Strand, at 9am on Tuesday 18th, as part of a week of action
The police will argue that the claims should be struck out because their asserted “Neither Confirm Nor Deny” policy prevents them from answering questions, disclosing any documents or giving evidence, and therefore they say they will be prevented from having a fair trial.

The police are also applying, in the alternative (i.e if the strike out application fails) for orders: 1. releasing them from standard disclosure obligations (so they don’t have to provide any documents to the claimants or their lawyers), and 2. that the identities of each claimant and each police officer and each witness in the proceedings must not be disclosed.

This hearing comes after the three other women in this legal action had to battle for over a year against their human rights claims going to a secret court; to widespread dismay, the Court of Appeal found against them in November 2013, and their battle continues.

Police Spies Out Of Lives extends solidarity with everyone affected by the extreme intrusions perpetrated by undercover police officers."

Five UK women will face an attempt by the police to have their common law claims struck out. The police claim as they can ‘neither confirm, nor deny’ (NCND) anything about undercover policing, the trial should not proceed.

These are the common law claims of “deceit, assault, misfeasance in public office and negligence” made by the women who were deceived into long-term intimate relationships with undercover officers. "

by fred Thu Oct 30, 2014 02:44

It has been reported last week in the UK media that the UK Metropolitan police have settled their case for the sum of £425,000, presumably to prevent further embarrassment and revelations and to try to sweep this case under the carpet.

Last Thursday British media reported that the UK’s Metropolitan Police would pay £425,000 (about $686,000) in a settlement with a woman, known only as Jacqui, who was conned by a man who fathered her first child, said that he loved her, and then one day disappeared. She knew him as Bob Robinson. His real name, as she would learn 25 years later, was Bob Lambert. He was an operative with the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), a special unit within the British police that infiltrated a host of environmentalist groups to gather intelligence. In several cases the operatives, almost always men, established long-term intimate relationships with women in order to gain access to the world of underground animal rights or environmental activists.

by Mary Kelly Wed Jul 29, 2015 21:21

into covert infiltration of political groups.
In his opening statement, Judge Pritchard said 'this is the first time undercover policing has been exposed to the rigour of public examination...the enquiry will need to examine any evidence of the targeting of individuals for their political views or participation in social justice campaigns'.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/undercover-police-and-pol...icing

by fred Sun Sep 25, 2016 19:52

The times etc are finally given the go ahead by their handlers to kick up a bit of fuss about british covert spying on democratic protest groups all over Ireland, many years too late of course. At the time the corrib protesters were evil and it was all just a "conspiracy theory" of course. Now that the gas is secured, watch them pretend to be Irate and that they are actually engaged in proper investigative journalism in the interests of the people holdng money and power to account.

What a complete joke! :-D

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/inquiry-ur...86064

by 1 of indy Sat Nov 07, 2020 23:36

This story continues to ripple. The utter dishonesty of the whole thing and deception is astounding.

‘Real world’ wives of UK ‘spycops’ seek justice for lives shattered by the undercover police operation https://www.rt.com/op-ed/505910-uk-spycops-undercover-police/

It opens with

From 1968 - 2007, at least 30 women were deceived into long-term relationships by undercover officers. They have had their apology, but what of the wives back in the ‘real world’ – where is the contrition for them?

The spouses of police officers who engaged in romantic relationships while undercover are finally being heard.

Using not only fake names but entirely fabricated personas, their husbands infiltrated political campaign groups for years at a time, posing as anti-war, anti-racist, environmentalist, and human rights campaigners, among many other guises. In some extreme instances, they even proposed marriage and fathered children with the women they spied on.

Top brass at Britain’s elite security policing unit, Special Branch, were all too aware of the risk of operatives ‘going native’ while embedded in activist organisations, at least one officer having refused to return from the field in the past. To avoid a repeat fiasco, strict policies of only using career officers whose loyalty to the force was beyond doubt, and who were married, was implemented, to ensure spies had “something in the real world to come back to...”