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| Woman Who Bore British Undercover Officer’s Child Is to Get Settlement | Woman Who Bore British Undercover Officer’s Child Is to Get Settlement |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| LONDON — She was a 22-year-old campaigner for animal rights. He was an undercover police officer sent to spy on her. But the relationship went far beyond what might be deemed the norm between snooper and snooped-upon. | LONDON — She was a 22-year-old campaigner for animal rights. He was an undercover police officer sent to spy on her. But the relationship went far beyond what might be deemed the norm between snooper and snooped-upon. |
| In the mid-1980s, the woman, identified only as Jacqui, formed a relationship with the officer she thought was a fellow activist, a longhaired leftist who said his name was Bob Robinson. | In the mid-1980s, the woman, identified only as Jacqui, formed a relationship with the officer she thought was a fellow activist, a longhaired leftist who said his name was Bob Robinson. |
| In 1985, they had a son. | In 1985, they had a son. |
| Only in 2012 did the activist discover from a newspaper article that Bob the left-winger was in fact Bob Lambert, a married police officer with children of his own, who had been assigned to infiltrate the militant Animal Liberation Front. | Only in 2012 did the activist discover from a newspaper article that Bob the left-winger was in fact Bob Lambert, a married police officer with children of his own, who had been assigned to infiltrate the militant Animal Liberation Front. |
| On Friday, in an extraordinary coda to this story of passion, parenthood and betrayal, British news reports said the police would pay the woman 425,000 pounds, or about $680,000, as part of a settlement to head off a formal lawsuit. The payment is said to be the first of its kind. | On Friday, in an extraordinary coda to this story of passion, parenthood and betrayal, British news reports said the police would pay the woman 425,000 pounds, or about $680,000, as part of a settlement to head off a formal lawsuit. The payment is said to be the first of its kind. |
| The police declined to confirm the amount involved. But in a statement, Scotland Yard said it “unreservedly apologizes for any pain and suffering that the relationship with Bob Lambert, an undercover officer, has had on this woman.” | The police declined to confirm the amount involved. But in a statement, Scotland Yard said it “unreservedly apologizes for any pain and suffering that the relationship with Bob Lambert, an undercover officer, has had on this woman.” |
| “We recognize the impact that the revelation that he was an undercover police officer must have had both on her and her son,” it said. | “We recognize the impact that the revelation that he was an undercover police officer must have had both on her and her son,” it said. |
| The statement added that Scotland Yard “has never had a policy that officers can use sexual relations for the purposes of policing.” Peter Francis, another former undercover officer, said in an interview with the BBC that there was “no policy saying that you couldn’t, either.” | The statement added that Scotland Yard “has never had a policy that officers can use sexual relations for the purposes of policing.” Peter Francis, another former undercover officer, said in an interview with the BBC that there was “no policy saying that you couldn’t, either.” |
| The payment is part of a tangle of a dozen cases relating to an undercover police unit called the Special Demonstration Squad, whose members posed as activists to gather intelligence on militant political and environmental groups. | |
| The group was formally disbanded several years ago, but disclosures about the activities of undercover officers continue to haunt the police. | The group was formally disbanded several years ago, but disclosures about the activities of undercover officers continue to haunt the police. |
| One particularly shocking revelation was that the unit had used the identities of dead children to establish cover names for its operatives — a practice reminiscent of spy thriller tradecraft. | One particularly shocking revelation was that the unit had used the identities of dead children to establish cover names for its operatives — a practice reminiscent of spy thriller tradecraft. |
| In another episode, an undercover operation sought to gather information on the family of Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager stabbed to death in 1993, whose name became a byword for what one inquiry called “institutional racism” within the police. | In another episode, an undercover operation sought to gather information on the family of Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager stabbed to death in 1993, whose name became a byword for what one inquiry called “institutional racism” within the police. |
| The disclosure compelled the home secretary, Theresa May, to order a public inquiry. | The disclosure compelled the home secretary, Theresa May, to order a public inquiry. |
| Scotland Yard has also opened an internal inquiry, called Operation Herne, into decades of secret deployments. | Scotland Yard has also opened an internal inquiry, called Operation Herne, into decades of secret deployments. |
| The revelations about the squad’s activities have stunned many people, especially those who were its targets. | The revelations about the squad’s activities have stunned many people, especially those who were its targets. |
| “I had a spy who was being paid by the government to spy on me to the extent that he watched me give birth, so he saw every intimate part of me,” Jacqui, who has declined to reveal her identity, said in an interview with the BBC and The Guardian, which both reported news of the police payment. “He was 14 hours with me, giving birth. How did he report that back?” | |
| Jacqui said she had received psychiatric care and contemplated suicide after her son’s father disappeared. In the meantime, Mr. Lambert returned to the police, was promoted and later left the force to teach. If he had not been unmasked, Jacqui said, he would have taken his secret “to the grave.” | Jacqui said she had received psychiatric care and contemplated suicide after her son’s father disappeared. In the meantime, Mr. Lambert returned to the police, was promoted and later left the force to teach. If he had not been unmasked, Jacqui said, he would have taken his secret “to the grave.” |
| The uproar over the undercover officers’ conduct has prompted a fierce debate between defenders of civil liberties and those who support what Scotland Yard called “a vital policing tactic” undertaken by officers who face “very real risks” in “this difficult and dangerous work.” | The uproar over the undercover officers’ conduct has prompted a fierce debate between defenders of civil liberties and those who support what Scotland Yard called “a vital policing tactic” undertaken by officers who face “very real risks” in “this difficult and dangerous work.” |
| Undercover deployments continue to this day, the police acknowledged. | Undercover deployments continue to this day, the police acknowledged. |
| The disclosure of the settlement with Jacqui came on the same day that files declassified by the National Archives showed that MI5, the domestic security service, placed two prominent Marxist historians, Eric Hobsbawm and Christopher Hill, under surveillance for many years. The agency opened their mail, bugged their phones and monitored their wives and associates. | The disclosure of the settlement with Jacqui came on the same day that files declassified by the National Archives showed that MI5, the domestic security service, placed two prominent Marxist historians, Eric Hobsbawm and Christopher Hill, under surveillance for many years. The agency opened their mail, bugged their phones and monitored their wives and associates. |
| The documents, heavily redacted in parts, showed that the security service opened dossiers on their associates, including the historian A. J. P. Taylor, the author Iris Murdoch and the philosopher Mary Warnock. | |
| “I am completely taken aback,” The Guardian quoted the philosopher as saying, “and even faintly flattered.” | “I am completely taken aback,” The Guardian quoted the philosopher as saying, “and even faintly flattered.” |