The Spycops Scandal – Police Spies Out of Lives!

Following last week’s bombshell ITV broadcast perhaps the scandal of undercover police despatched into left wing groups is at last getting the attention it deserves.

The Undercover Policing Inquiry, the state investigation into the spycops scandal, has just concluded another round of hearings. This latest phase of the inquiry, (Tranche 2) examined the years 1983 to 1992. It was during this time that the infiltration of hunt saboteur groups became a key tactic of the under-cover spycops. As a result of the exposure of this infiltration, the HSA has been granted “core participant” status in the inquiry.

The whole saga of the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), and its shadow and successor organisation, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), is as lurid as it is distressing. Stealing dead children’s names, deceiving activists into long-term relationships, smashing left-wing groups, embedding themselves in family campaigns seeking justice, framing activists, inciting crimes, and even fathering children under their assumed identities. All of this came to light, not due to belated honesty from the state or even the officers concerned but due to the brave work of activists who had been targeted.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the moral horrors inflicted by the spycops, but it’s important to understand that the SDS and NPOIU weren’t “rogue units”. Their operations were sanctioned right to the top, with glowing reports from MI5 and direct funding from the Home Office. Evidence given throughout the inquiry exposes the truth about these units and officers: they were deployed as part of a machinery that had as its purpose the suppression of democracy and the prevention of effective dissent.

Sab groups were central to this story. The spycops saw infiltrating sab groups, not only as a valid purpose in and of itself but also as a stepping stone into not only the world of animal liberation but also class struggle, anti-fascist, and ecological groups. They disproportionately targeted sab groups, especially those in London and the southeast of England.  Police known to have infiltrated Sab groups include John Dines, Michael Chitty, Andrew Coles, James Thomson, and two  for whom we only have cover names,  “John Lipscombe” and “Matt Rayner”.

Hunting was then, as it is today, the sport of the upper classes, the landowners, and the powerful. Disruption and spying on groups opposed to it fitted in well with the aims and objectives of the agencies employing undercovers.

Michael Chitty (referred to in the inquiry as HN11), under the alias “Mike Blake”, was one of the earliest infiltrators, targeting South London’s hunt saboteur groups in the 1980s, laying the groundwork for more invasive tactics. His activities, while primarily focused on intelligence gathering, were the blueprint for the manipulative strategies employed by his successors. 

At the centre of the inquiry and indeed the whole practice of infiltrating and disrupting progressive movements was the leading light of the SDS,  Bob Lambert (HN10). Lambert, who operated under the alias ‘Bob’ Robinson, infiltrated animal rights groups in Hackney and London based sabs.

Using this as a springboard, he infiltrated wider animal rights and ecological campaigns, including London Greenpeace. He has also been accused – and provided no real answer to the allegation – that he was the main instigator behind a series of fire bombings that targeted department stores selling fur. He fathered a child with “Jacqui”, an active sab, leaving when they were two years old, leaving both mother and child psychologically devastated when they discovered his true identity and purpose two decades later. He also had at least three other relationships, including a further long-term one with Belinda Harvey, who gave moving testimony in the ITV documentary and at the inquiry itself.  Lambert would also be involved with a serious miscarriage of justice, which resulted in two animal liberationists serving lengthy prison sentences. He was rewarded for this behaviour by returning to the SDS as a manager where he mis-managed later spycops like Andrew Coles.

Coles (HN2)  himself rose to the heights (or sank to the depths – depending on your point of view) of becoming a Tory councillor in Peterborough. During his deployment he infiltrated sabs, including Brixton Hunt Saboteurs, and animal rights groups under the name “Andy Davey”. Coles, called “creepy” in the inquiry by several witnesses, was 32 and married when he deceived ‘Jessica’, a 19-year-old animal rights activist, into a relationship. She was led to believe he was 24 at the time. He was the main contributor to the SDS’s “tradecraft manual” – a how-to guide on infiltrating groups, a section of which bears the title “Sexual Liaisons”. The evidence he gave on this topic and others at the inquiry was less than convincing. Following his exposure as a spycop he was forced to resign his position as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire.

John Dines (HN5)  was deployed between 1988 and 1992. He infiltrated London Greenpeace, the anarcho-syndicalist Direct Action Movement, Anti-Fascist Action, and London sab groups. He developed a relationship with Helen Steel, famed as one of the two McLibel defendants, herself an active sab at the time. Disappearing from her life and his deployment in 1992, Helen was eventually able, through painstaking work, to piece together the truth behind “John Barker”, eventually leading to her confrontation with him in Australia. Giving evidence to the inquiry, she shared her experience of the emotional devastation when discovering her long-term partner was an undercover officer. Apparently not able to face up to his wrongdoing, Dines refused to give live evidence to the inquiry – and as a resident of Australia the Inquiry could not compel him to do so.

Spycop HN1, cover name “Matt Rayner” did give evidence to the inquiry. In a step outside the usual procedure, however he was allowed to do so under an extra layer of secrecy,  with only the woman who had the relationship with him,  Liz Fuller, able to see his face.As has happened throughout the most recent phase of the inquiry, the broadcast was also suspended for lengthy periods. This has raised serious questions around his real identity and his position in society or government today. Liz, in contrast to HN1, gave honest and moving testimony about how he engaged her in a deceitful relationship at an extremely difficult time in her life.

There was a marked difference between the evidence he gave and that of the other witnesses regarding his behaviour while deployed. All the civilian witnesses portrayed Rayner as gung-ho and aggressive – especially while out sabbing.. ‘Rayner’ for his part unconvincingly maintained the line that he was a mere observer – and was never that involved. A recent podcast with Liz can be found here.

HN1 infiltrated West London Hunt Saboteurs before moving on to wider animal rights and ecological movements. His infiltration came at a crucial moment, hinted at in his evidence, as hunts across the southeast began employing teams of stewards to ramp up violence;, violence that was then used to generate headlines and pave the way for the criminalisation of anti-hunt activity. This was to come in 1994 with then Home Secretary Michael Howard’s description of hunt saboteurs as “thugs, wreckers and bullies”. This was just one insight into how the undercovers’ reporting on the groups they infiltrated was distorted by political agendas imposed from above.

That distortion led to some bizarre assertions from HN1, such as the idea that ALF activists were plotting the assassination of one or more vivisectors, which led to files being built on individuals deemed to be “ALF activists”. The threshold for this level of interest from the state was low. The inquiry heard how simply being loud on a demo was enough to open a file, with various SDS officers offering different explanations of what an ALF activist actually was. Files built up in this way were used by the public sector and other organisations for blacklisting. How many people have a state file on them for simply taking a stand against bloodsports?

Whilst HN1 was frank about the hunt instigation of violence and hinted heavily at police liaison with the upper echelons of hunting. He was persistently questioned by the inquiry’s barristers as to why there was no police intervention against hunt violence and why the police routinely abused public order powers to facilitate hunters, a case in point being the Horse and Hound annual ball in London where police used stop and search powers to break up a peaceful demo. Rayner himself was the victim of police brutality, suffering cracked ribs in the back of a police van after an arrest. He told the inquiry he “probably deserved it” and when questioned why he didn’t challenge it, said he “wasn’t there to change the world”.

The inquiry has also heard from other sabs who were affected and victimised by this intrusive surveillance.

 “Callum”, one target of this infiltration shared insights into the non-violent tactics employed by sabs, emphasised that the aim was to prevent the kill rather than engage in physical confrontations. He noted the systemic violence from hunters, often acting with impunity, and how this violence was sometimes even supported by a lack of police intervention. “Walter” echoed these sentiments, dismissing the notion that saboteurs were out for fights, stating their primary goal was to sabotage the hunt itself, not to engage in violence.

Later this year in Tranche 3 (1993-2007) and next year in Tranche 4 (1999-2010) we will hear more about other officers from the 90s through to the 2000s . This will include Jim Boyling (HN15), known as “Jim Sutton”, who deceived activists and sabs in Essex, even marrying one under his cover identity.

Also, under the spotlight will be Boyling’s involvement in the arrests that took place at a joint hit at Good Friday Hunt in 1996. Police video from the time shows Boyling physically intervening during an arrest, prompting an assault on him by his baton swinging uniformed colleagues. The legal proceedings following the arrests saw Boyling offer a witness statement for the defence in a court case involving leftie blob lawyer Keir Starmer. Boyling shifted the focus of his operation to Reclaim The Streets but also developed connections with North London Hunt Sabs and the McLibel Support Campaign in the process.

We will also hear about another undercover, ‘Christine Green’, who also spied on West London Hunt Sabs. Green continued a sexual relationship with an activist she met whilst undercover after her deployment finished.

In 2026, when the NPOIU comes under examination,  evidence will be heard about the undercover officer who used the name ‘Rod Richardson (HN596/EN32), and spied on sabs across the country and of course “Mark Stone” real name Mark Kennedy infiltrated various activist groups, including sabs, and whose exposure ignited the Spycops scandal…

To find out more about the Spycops and follow proceedings, you can:

Listen to the Spycops Info Podcast:
https://soundcloud.com/spycops

Follow these on Twitter/X:
Tom Fowler
Police Spies out of Lives
AR Spycatcher
Cops Campaign
Undercover Research Group

Undercover Research Group
https://powerbase.info/index.php/UndercoverResearch_Portal
https://www.spycopsresearch.info/