Met Police criticised for wrongly spying families of victims mistakenly killed in police action

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A recent report critical of the Metropolitan Police has found that a secret police unit have wrongly spied on families of 18 justice campaign groups including close relatives of the victims who were mistakenly killed during police action in the course of 35 years.

Those campaigns also include the families of two men shot dead by police; Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005 and Harry Stanley in 1999. In addition, the secret unit was also accused of having infiltrated closely related individuals of murder victim Stephen Lawrence and gathering information to “smear” them.

Despite not naming any individuals, it is reported the family of Asian Ricky Reel, whose family accused police of inadequately investigating his death in mysterious circumstances due to his race, were also targeted “inappropriately” by undercover officers.

In the latest report regarding the conduct of Scotland Yard moles, Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon will say that the force’s highly secretive Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), Special Branch and senior management disobeyed rules about what information should be kept.

Mr Creedon was called to conduct an inquiry into the SDS after a series of accusations were made about the unit, including that officers used the identities of dead children without permission and tricked women into serious sexual relationships.

Mr Creedon has stated in his report: “It is very clear that criticism must be levelled at the Metropolitan Police Service for keeping information, which had been gathered by undercover officers, which served no purpose in preventing crime or disorder.

“This is not a criticism of the deployment of the individual officers, but of the lack of regard the SDS, Special Branch and the Metropolitan Police Service senior management paid to the rules and legislation that clearly set out what they should, and should not have, collected and retained.”

Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt has offered a short apology from the victimised campaign groups as he has said to “regret enormously” for the “distress that has been caused.”

It is likely that the investigation will continue for another year and will report on the culture of the unit and “some behaviour that was not appropriate”.

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