The shadowy world of undercover policing has once again been thrust into the spotlight by the latest revelations from the Spycops public inquiry. New evidence confirms that the Metropolitan Police spent millions of pounds on a covert operation to conceal an undercover officer's true identity from his ex-partner, who had unknowingly fallen victim to his deceit.
At the heart of this scandal is Helen Steel, a prominent left-wing campaigner, whose family was subjected to intrusive surveillance during a holiday in New Zealand. The Metropolitan Police had secretly alerted their counterparts there three weeks prior to their arrival, prompting a discreet search of their luggage and subsequent tracking of their movements over several weeks.
But this wasn't an isolated incident. Senior Scotland Yard officers had orchestrated a calculated strategy to protect John Dines, the undercover officer at the centre of the scandal. This included authorising the expenditure of £2.5 million in public funds to relocate Dines, including assisting him in purchasing a new house, ensuring Steel could not locate him.
Giving evidence to the inquiry recently, Steel described the surveillance and misuse of taxpayers' money as a profound abuse of state powers. She stated that the police's actions were designed to prevent her from uncovering how an officer had 'deceived and sexually exploited' her, and to protect an 'illegitimate and undemocratic' operation.
The relationship between Steel and Dines began in 1990, with Steel believing she had found a loving partner. However, in 1992, he abruptly disappeared from her life, falsely claiming a mental breakdown to end his deployment. Steel described the period leading up to his disappearance as 'sadistic and callous psychological torture,' marked by contradictory signals and repeated disappearances.
Former Met Commissioner Paul Condon acknowledged at the inquiry that Scotland Yard had failed to control officers and managers responsible for 'horrendous abuses.' These abuses included monitoring grieving families, such as the parents of Stephen Lawrence, stealing the identities of deceased children, and fabricating evidence in court. The Spycops inquiry continues its examination into the conduct of undercover officers who spied on more than 1,000 political groups between 1968 and at least 2010.