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During the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, it was revealed that an undercover police officer participated in clashes to better spy on anti-racism groups. The long-standing Undercover Policing Inquiry heard that a disbanded team may have targeted black justice campaigners in the 1990s with overt racism. The officers collected information on figures like Baroness Lawrence and Dr. Neville Lawrence, despite their lack of association with groups deemed threats to public order.
Costing £114 million, the Undercover Policing Inquiry began in 2015 following allegations of misconduct by undercover officers, including deceitful sexual relationships. Lead lawyer David Barr KC stated that the inquiry would hear emotional testimonies from justice campaigners such as the Lawrence family and Sukdev Reel. The investigation aims to uncover why Scotland Yard deployed undercover officers to monitor campaigns like these and whether racism played a motivating role in these operations.
One officer involved was known as HN81 or “David Hagan” for anonymity reasons. Deployed in 1997 to gather intelligence on anti-racism movements in London, he was present during the clashes surrounding the Lawrence inquiry in 1998. Despite not becoming a prominent figure in the family’s campaign, HN81 admitted to participating in the disorder on that day. The police resorted to using CS gas to control the crowd, prompting Baroness Lawrence to call for peace and order.
Peter Francis, a former officer of the now-defunct Special Demonstration Squad, is a crucial witness in the ongoing inquiry. He is expected to shed light on racially-motivated orders he received in 1993 to gather intelligence on justice campaigns like Stephen Lawrence’s. Francis claims a superior, HN86, instructed him to undermine black justice campaigns by discrediting key figures like the Lawrence family. The Metropolitan Police expressed regret for the lack of ethical judgment in undercover operations that targeted grieving families and legitimate campaigners
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