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Police 'spied on' Stephen Lawrence family, says Guardian newspaper Police 'spied on' Stephen Lawrence family, says Guardian newspaper
(about 2 hours later)
A former undercover police officer says he took part in an operation to spy on the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, the Guardian has reported. A former undercover police officer has claimed he was ordered to infiltrate the Stephen Lawrence campaign in 1993, the Guardian has reported.
Peter Francis reportedly said his task was to find "dirt" that could be used to "smear" them in the period shortly after his murder in April 1993. Peter Francis told the newspaper and Channel 4's Dispatches programme he posed as an anti-racism campaigner in a hunt for "disinformation" to use against those criticising the police.
The friend who witnessed the murder and campaigners angry at the case were also targets, according to the paper. The aim was to smear the dead teenager's family, he said.
The Metropolitan Police said it recognised the gravity of the claims. Scotland Yard refused to confirm or deny the account.
The claims have surfaced as a result of a joint investigation into undercover policing by the Guardian and Channel 4's Dispatches programme, to be broadcast on Monday 24 June. But a spokesman said the Metropolitan Police shared the Lawrence family's concerns.
Mr Francis, who spent four years living undercover in protest groups and has since become a whistleblower, also accused senior officers of deliberately withholding details of his role spying on the Lawrence family from the public inquiry led by Sir William Macpherson into the police's handling of the case. Stephen's mother Doreen said the revelation had topped everything she had heard since her son's murder, and she is shocked and angry.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the allegations would "bring particular upset" to the Lawrence family, adding: "We share their concerns." Riot fears
He said: "A thorough review and investigation into these matters - Operation Herne - is being overseen by Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon. Mr Francis served in the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad, which specialised in gathering intelligence on political activists.
"Operation Herne is a live investigation, four strands of which are being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and it would be inappropriate to pre-judge its findings." In 1993 he says he was ordered to prepare a cover story which would portray him as an anarchist, but when Stephen was murdered and the Lawrence family began a high-profile campaign for justice, the plan changed. He was to pose as an anti-racism campaigner.
But Doreen Lawrence, Stephen's mother, reportedly said: "Nothing can justify the whole thing about trying to discredit the family and people around us." He says the Metropolitan Police were concerned the reaction to the Lawrence murder might result in rioting similar to that following the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.
He joined the group Youth Against Racism in Europe which rallied around the Lawrence family as they tried to push for Stephen's killers to be found after a botched police investigation.
He told the Guardian and Dispatches his senior officers put him under pressure for "any intelligence that could have smeared the campaign. Along the lines of: the family were political activists, someone in the family was involved in demonstrations, drug dealers, anything. What they would have done with the intelligence, I can't call it, but that was our remit."
At one point, Mr Francis says he was asked to go through a list of visitors to the Lawrence house to provide information about those in contact with the family.
He also claims to have told Scotland Yard that Stephen's friend, Duwayne Brooks, had been involved in violence during a demonstration against the BNP in Welling.
Mr Brooks was traumatised by his experience of watching Stephen die but following Mr Francis's disclosure, police searched CCTV pictures of the protest and he was arrested. The case was eventually dismissed by a judge.
'Really angry'
Mr Francis, who used the name Peter Black while under cover, says the aim of his operation was to ensure that the public "did not have as much sympathy for the Stephen Lawrence campaign" and to persuade "the media to start maybe tarring the campaign".
Asked what information he produced, he said: "I wasn't successful, no SDS officer was successful, in finding anything really concrete. It was really just a bit of hearsay, tittle-tattle."
Doreen Lawrence said she was shocked and angry at the disclosure.
"It just makes me really, really angry," she said, "that all of this has been going on and all the time trying to undermine us as a family.
"Somebody sitting somewhere, calculating what, you know, what they'd be doing to look at and infiltrate, our family. It's like, we're treated as if to say we're not human beings.
"We weren't linked to any political groups, you know, we weren't linked to any of them so at the time.
"Nothing can justify the whole thing about trying to discredit the family and people round us."
The Metropolitan Police would not confirm or deny the account given by Mr Francis, but admitted "the claims in relation to Stephen Lawrence's family will bring particular upset to them and we share their concerns".
An independent investigation into a number of allegations against former under cover police officers, codenamed Operation Herne is under way.
In a statement the Met said: "Any actions by officers working on or with the Special Demonstration Squad need to be understood by Operation Herne in terms of the leadership, supervision, support, training, legal framework, tasking and reporting mechanisms that were in place at the time."
But the force gave the same response to allegations that another undercover officer had helped write the leaflets at the centre of the McLibel trial in the mid 1980s.
The statement said: "At some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth."
Mr Francis told the Guardian he had come forward because of the "morally reprehensible" way in which under cover officers had sometimes worked. He is particularly angry his role was never discussed by the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry chaired by Sir William Macpherson.
'Astonished''Astonished'
Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed as he waited for a bus in April 1993.Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed as he waited for a bus in April 1993.
More than 18 years later, in January 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of his murder by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence.More than 18 years later, in January 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of his murder by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence.
Scientists had found a tiny bloodstain on Dobson's jacket that could only have come from Mr Lawrence, and a single hair belonging to the teenager on Norris's jeans.Scientists had found a tiny bloodstain on Dobson's jacket that could only have come from Mr Lawrence, and a single hair belonging to the teenager on Norris's jeans.
Dobson and Norris had first been arrested in connection with the murder just weeks after it happened, but the case against them collapsed.Dobson and Norris had first been arrested in connection with the murder just weeks after it happened, but the case against them collapsed.
A private prosecution against Dobson in 1994, launched by Stephen's parents, also failed and Dobson was acquitted.A private prosecution against Dobson in 1994, launched by Stephen's parents, also failed and Dobson was acquitted.
In 1999, an inquiry chaired by Sir William Macpherson, a retired High Court judge, into the killing and its aftermath published a report accusing the police of institutional racism and making 70 recommendations, many aimed at improving police attitudes to racism.In 1999, an inquiry chaired by Sir William Macpherson, a retired High Court judge, into the killing and its aftermath published a report accusing the police of institutional racism and making 70 recommendations, many aimed at improving police attitudes to racism.
Criticising the police, Sir William said he was "astonished by the lack of direction and organisation during the vital hours after the murder".Criticising the police, Sir William said he was "astonished by the lack of direction and organisation during the vital hours after the murder".
The Lawrences had been patronised, treated with "insensitivity and lack of sympathy", and kept in the dark about the investigation, he added.The Lawrences had been patronised, treated with "insensitivity and lack of sympathy", and kept in the dark about the investigation, he added.
But in 2011, the Court of Appeal concluded that there was enough new and substantial evidence to allow Dobson's previous acquittal to be quashed.But in 2011, the Court of Appeal concluded that there was enough new and substantial evidence to allow Dobson's previous acquittal to be quashed.
After Dobson and Norris' convictions, Stephen's mother Doreen Lawrence said: "I don't forgive the boys who killed Stephen. They don't think they have done anything wrong. After Dobson and Norris' convictions, Doreen Lawrence said: "I don't forgive the boys who killed Stephen. They don't think they have done anything wrong.
"They took away Stephen's life and there is nothing in their behaviour or anything to show they regret what their actions have done and the pain it has caused us as a family.""They took away Stephen's life and there is nothing in their behaviour or anything to show they regret what their actions have done and the pain it has caused us as a family."
The then acting deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, acknowledged that police believed there were five people involved in the murder, but there were currently no other "live" lines of inquiry.The then acting deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, acknowledged that police believed there were five people involved in the murder, but there were currently no other "live" lines of inquiry.
In a statement read by his lawyer outside the Old Bailey, Stephen's father, Neville Lawrence, said the convictions were a moment of joy and relief - but he could not rest until all of those who killed his son were brought to justice.In a statement read by his lawyer outside the Old Bailey, Stephen's father, Neville Lawrence, said the convictions were a moment of joy and relief - but he could not rest until all of those who killed his son were brought to justice.
Dispatches is broadcast on Channel 4 on Monday 24 June at 20:00 BST.