Undercover officer played role in Stephen Lawrence inquiry clashes

An undercover police officer was said to have participated in clashes during the Stephen Lawrence investigation so he could better spy on anti-racist groups, according to one of Britain’s longest-running public inquiries.

The decade-old Secret Policing Inquiry, which began the final stage of its hearings on Monday, heard there may be evidence of overt racism in how a now-disbanded team targeted black justice campaigners in the 1990s.

The officers were confronted by Baroness Lawrence and Dr Charles, who were fighting for justice over the racist murder of their son in 1993. They gathered information about Neville Lawrence; However, these individuals had no connection with groups that the police force believed could pose a danger to public order.

The investigation, which has cost £114m so far, began in 2015 after allegations of abuse by undercover officers emerged, including deceiving women into sexual intercourse.

In his opening statement on Monday, the inquiry’s lead lawyer, David Barr KC, said he would hear “deeply moving” evidence from justice campaigners, including the Lawrence family and Sukdev Reel, whose son Ricky died in 1997 in what was suspected to be a racist murder.

Mr Barr said the investigation would examine why Scotland Yard deployed undercover officers to gather information about campaigns like this and the extent to which those operations might have been racially motivated.

One of these officers was a man known only as HN81 or “David Hagan” due to an order of anonymity.

By 1997, he was assigned to gather intelligence on the anti-apartheid movement in London, at a time when the police were preparing to face a public inquiry into how they botched the investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

Stephen, 18, was stabbed by a gang while waiting at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London.

He admitted to being part of the infamous shootings on the day the five murder suspects gave evidence to the Lawrence inquest in 1998, although the evidence so far suggests that HN81 did not become close enough to the family to become a key figure in their campaign.

“HE [HN81] I accept being involved in the disruption of public order,” Mr Barr said.

“HN81 describes that day as the most serious incident of civil disorder he had ever witnessed and participated in. He describes shouting, aggressive postures, and participating in shoving and shoving after it had begun.”

Police eventually used CS gas to control the crowd, prompting Baroness Lawrence to appeal for calm.

“It is undeniable that the Stephen Lawrence Campaign has been conducted in a manner that challenges public order and advocates order and tranquility, even if some may think otherwise,” Mr. Barr said.

“Dr Neville Lawrence was appalled that a police officer could have been involved in such an act. He told the inquest that it was (I quote) ‘particularly disturbing that a police officer who sought to justify surveillance on the grounds that it disturbed public order was actively contributing to this action’.”

Another key witness in the final tranche of evidence is Peter Francis, a former officer of the now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad at the center of the misconduct allegations.

His revelations were one of the factors that triggered the public inquiry.

Giving evidence in December, Mr Francis is expected to say that in 1993 – six months after Stephen’s murder – he received racially motivated orders from an executive known only as “HN86” to gather information on his campaign for justice and other causes.

“Mr. Francis portrays HN86 as a thoroughly and openly racist man who, among other things, instructed him to gather intelligence for the purpose of undermining black justice campaigns,” Mr. Barr said.

“In particular, information about the Lawrence family that could be used to discredit them and destroy the Stephen Lawrence Campaign.

“Mr. Francis argues that he was also expected to report information that would damage Duwayne Brooks’ reputation [Stephen Lawrence’s friend who had been with him on the night of the fatal attack].

“HN86 denies these allegations. We will be looking at them very closely indeed.”

In a brief opening statement, Peter Skelton KC, representing the Metropolitan Police, said the police had apologized to Stephen Lawrence’s family, his friend Duwayne Brooks, Sukhdev Reel and other justice campaigners.

“There was a collective failure to exercise ethical judgment about the purpose of undercover policing and the appropriateness of reporting on family justice campaigns,” he said.

“This is a reflection of the ‘us against them’ culture that prevailed within the MPS at the time, which did not properly distinguish between legitimate intelligence targets, such as groups causing serious public disorder, and illegitimate targets, such as grieving black and Asian families complaining about injustice and police actions.”