Doreen Lawrence calls for ‘cowardly’ undercover officer to face public inquiry | Doreen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence’s mother is pressing for the “cowardly” undercover police officer who spied on his family’s campaign for justice to be questioned at a public inquiry.
The spy police investigation had previously ruled that undercover police officer David Hagan was too ill to give live evidence following evidence presented by his lawyers.
But that decision will be challenged on Monday by several victims of undercover surveillance, who claim Doreen Lawrence and Hagan are key witnesses in a key matter being examined by the inquiry.
The long-running investigation was launched after an informant revealed that undercover police officers working for Scotland Yard had monitored the Lawrence family’s campaign to expose Stephen’s racist killers in the 1990s.
The surveillance took place as the Lawrence family and their supporters tried to persuade the Metropolitan police to properly investigate the 1993 murder.
The inquiry heard Hagan was told by his superiors that surveillance reports were sent directly to then Metropolitan police commissioner and now colleague Sir Paul Condon, who congratulated him on his “excellent” work.
He informed his managers that Stephen’s parents, Doreen and Neville, had separated. He also gave information about their partners and their attitudes towards political groups.
Sir John Mitting, a retired judge, is leading the inquiry, which is looking into a wide range of allegations of misconduct involving around 139 undercover officers who spied on thousands of mostly left-wing activists. Between 1968 and at least 2010. Many of the officers formed intimate relationships with the women without telling them their true identities.
Hagan was an undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) and an anti-racist and Left-wing activists between 1996 and 2001.
Mitting had decided in September that Hagan would not be summoned to the inquest for questioning.
Hagan’s lawyers had cited a doctor’s report saying he suffered from complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which said: “Giving oral evidence carries the risk of having a significant impact on his behavior and welfareThe doctor also reported that “there is an 80 to 90% chance.” [Hagan] “He would not be able to meaningfully engage in the investigation.”
Doreen Lawrence’s lawyer, Imran Khan, will argue that Mitting “should have approached this medical evidence with caution and skepticism.”
“This is because there is an increasing pattern of undercover police officers citing mental health issues as a reason why they should not attend investigations to give oral evidence,” he said. added to a post He advocates overturning the decision.
Khan noted that Hagan was able to provide a 77-page written statement sent to the investigation. Mitting’s decision means Hagan cannot currently be tested by lawyers on her claims.
At an earlier hearing, Lawrence criticized “cowardly and disgraceful” police officers like Hagan who tried to avoid the “public spotlight” by hiding behind anonymity or not participating in the investigation at all.
Among those backing him is anti-racism campaigner Suresh Grover, who has long helped the Lawrences and is himself under surveillance by the undercover unit.
Whistleblower Peter Francis is also calling for the decision to be overturned. He infiltrated anti-racist and left-wing campaigners while working for the SDS between 1993 and 1997. One inquiry letterFrancis said he had “very significant concerns” that Hagan was not called to testify live.
Meanwhile, a former head of the SDS, who is also at the center of the controversy over secret surveillance of the Lawrences’ campaign, is taking legal action to prevent himself from being questioned during the investigation.
Francis told the inquiry that the former SDS chairman from 1991 to 1994 was a “completely and openly racist man” who, while referring to black justice campaigners, said “the monkeys were organized” and that they should stop this “before all the monkeys in London come off their trees”. The police officer, known only as HN86, denies the allegations.
HN86 also allegedly instructed Francis to gather information that could be used to discredit the Lawrences.
