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| Stephen Lawrence |
Whistleblower Peter Francis said he took part in the operation to attack the reputations of Stephen’s parents as well as a friend who witnessed the stabbing
Police spied on murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence’s family as they tried to dig “dirt” to “smear” them, an ex-undercover officer has claimed.
Whistleblower Peter Francis said he took part in the operation to attack the reputations of Stephen’s parents, Doreen and Neville, a friend who witnessed the stabbing and campaigners, who pressured the police to bring the racist killers to justice.
Mr Francis said Met bosses wanted him to find information that could be used against them shortly after 18-year-old Stephen’s killing in April 1993 on a street in Eltham, South East London.
Shocked Doreen said last night: “Out of all the things I’ve found out over the years, this certainly has topped it.
“Nothing can justify the whole thing about trying to discredit the family and people around us.”
Mr Francis said he came under “huge and constant pressure” from superior officers to “hunt for disinformation” that could undermine those arguing for a better investigation.
The former officer said he posed as an anti-racist activist in the mid-1990s in his search for intelligence.
He reportedly said: “I had to get any information on what was happening in the Stephen Lawrence campaign. They wanted the campaign to stop.
“Throughout my deployment there was almost constant pressure on me personally to find out anything I could that would discredit these campaigns.”
Mr Francis also told how information he found on Stephen’s friend and prime witness, Duwayne Brooks, led to him being arrested and charged in October 1993. But the case was thrown out by the judge when it got to court.
Rex
Other revelations, due to be broadcast in tonight’s Dispatches
on Channel 4, are said to include senior officers failing to reveal the
spy’s role to Sir William Macpherson, who headed a public inquiry to
examine the police investigation into the death.
Mr Francis was part of a covert unit known as the Special Demonstration Squad, which this year was revealed to have used the identities of dead children and formed sexual relationships with targets.
Formerly known as his alias Pete Black, he has given up his anonymity and led calls for a public inquiry into the alleged Met Police tactics.
Between 1993 and 1997 he infiltrated a group named Youth Against Racism in Europe.
He said he was one of four officers required to feed back intelligence.
Mr Francis said bosses were afraid anger at the failure to investigate Stephen’s racist killing would spiral into riots, such as thosein Los Angeles triggered by Rodney King’s police beating.
He monitored a number of “black justice” campaigns, involving relatives of men who died in suspicious circumstances in police custody. But he said his seniors were most interested in information about groups campaigning over Stephen.
Mr Francis said he never met the Lawrences, who distanced themselves from political groups, but he shared “hearsay” about them with bosses.
He said they wanted information
that could undermine the campaign. One operation involved producing
evidence that appeared to show Duwayne Brooks involved in violent
disorder.
Mr Francis said he and other officers trawled through hours of footage from a May 1993 demonstration, searching for incriminating evidence. He said it was part of a wider drive to damage the growing campaign around Stephen’s death and added: “We were trying to stop the campaign in its tracks.”
There is no suggestion family liaison officers knew the purpose of the information they collected. Mr Francis said the reason for monitoring visitors was “to formulate intelligence on who was going into the house with regards to which part of the political spectrum, if any, they were actually in”. He added: “It would determine maybe which way the campaign’s likely to go.”
Ex-Home Secretary Jack Straw, who in 1997 ordered the inquiry that led to the 1999 Macpherson report expressed his dismay yesterday.
Mr Straw said: “I’m profoundly shocked by this and by what amounts to a misuse of police time and money and entirely the wrong priorities.”
He said neither he nor Macpherson knew of the undercover operation. Scotland Yard issued a statement last night which said it “recognises the seriousness of the allegations of inappropriate behaviour and practices involving past undercover deployments”.
It added: “The claims in relation to Stephen Lawrence’s family will bring particular upset to them and we share their concerns. A thorough investigation into these matters – Operation Herne – is being overseen by Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon.”
Gary Dobson and David Norris were jailed in 2012 for Stephen’s murder.
Whistleblower Peter Francis said he took part in the operation to attack the reputations of Stephen’s parents, Doreen and Neville, a friend who witnessed the stabbing and campaigners, who pressured the police to bring the racist killers to justice.
Mr Francis said Met bosses wanted him to find information that could be used against them shortly after 18-year-old Stephen’s killing in April 1993 on a street in Eltham, South East London.
Shocked Doreen said last night: “Out of all the things I’ve found out over the years, this certainly has topped it.
“Nothing can justify the whole thing about trying to discredit the family and people around us.”
Mr Francis said he came under “huge and constant pressure” from superior officers to “hunt for disinformation” that could undermine those arguing for a better investigation.
The former officer said he posed as an anti-racist activist in the mid-1990s in his search for intelligence.
He reportedly said: “I had to get any information on what was happening in the Stephen Lawrence campaign. They wanted the campaign to stop.
“Throughout my deployment there was almost constant pressure on me personally to find out anything I could that would discredit these campaigns.”
Mr Francis also told how information he found on Stephen’s friend and prime witness, Duwayne Brooks, led to him being arrested and charged in October 1993. But the case was thrown out by the judge when it got to court.
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| Stephen Lawrence, 18, who was stabbed to death in a race murder in Eltham |
Mr Francis was part of a covert unit known as the Special Demonstration Squad, which this year was revealed to have used the identities of dead children and formed sexual relationships with targets.
Formerly known as his alias Pete Black, he has given up his anonymity and led calls for a public inquiry into the alleged Met Police tactics.
Between 1993 and 1997 he infiltrated a group named Youth Against Racism in Europe.
He said he was one of four officers required to feed back intelligence.
Mr Francis said bosses were afraid anger at the failure to investigate Stephen’s racist killing would spiral into riots, such as those
He monitored a number of “black justice” campaigns, involving relatives of men who died in suspicious circumstances in police custody. But he said his seniors were most interested in information about groups campaigning over Stephen.
Mr Francis said he never met the Lawrences, who distanced themselves from political groups, but he shared “hearsay” about them with bosses.
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| Duwayne Brooks |
Mr Francis said he and other officers trawled through hours of footage from a May 1993 demonstration, searching for incriminating evidence. He said it was part of a wider drive to damage the growing campaign around Stephen’s death and added: “We were trying to stop the campaign in its tracks.”
PA
Doreen Lawrence has previously said her family could not
understand why family liaison officers recorded details of every person
visiting her home.She said the family had always suspected police
had been gathering evidence about her visitors to discredit them.
“We’ve talked about that several times but we never had any concrete
[evidence],” she said.There is no suggestion family liaison officers knew the purpose of the information they collected. Mr Francis said the reason for monitoring visitors was “to formulate intelligence on who was going into the house with regards to which part of the political spectrum, if any, they were actually in”. He added: “It would determine maybe which way the campaign’s likely to go.”
Ex-Home Secretary Jack Straw, who in 1997 ordered the inquiry that led to the 1999 Macpherson report expressed his dismay yesterday.
Mr Straw said: “I’m profoundly shocked by this and by what amounts to a misuse of police time and money and entirely the wrong priorities.”
He said neither he nor Macpherson knew of the undercover operation. Scotland Yard issued a statement last night which said it “recognises the seriousness of the allegations of inappropriate behaviour and practices involving past undercover deployments”.
It added: “The claims in relation to Stephen Lawrence’s family will bring particular upset to them and we share their concerns. A thorough investigation into these matters – Operation Herne – is being overseen by Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon.”
Gary Dobson and David Norris were jailed in 2012 for Stephen’s murder.
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