30 Jul 2018

The Chairman of the Undercover Policing Inquiry, Sir John Mitting, is today publishing:

In Ruling 10, the Chairman has decided that:

  • The real name of HN95 will not be restricted. (There was no application to restrict the cover name, which will be published).
  • The cover name of HN 18 will not be restricted, and will be published in due course. The Chairman has already stated he is minded to restrict HN18’s real name (‘Minded to’ note 11 ).

In ‘Minded to note 12’, the Chairman has indicated that he is minded to restrict the real and cover name of HN4.

Open versions of the application and supporting evidence supplied on behalf of HN4 will be published in due course, at which point the core participants will have the opportunity to make submissions in respect of them.

Ruling 11 follows the publication of open versions of the documents supporting the applications, and the subsequent receipt of submissions (PDF, 141KB) in respect of some of the cases by the non-police, non-state core participants.

In Ruling 11 the Chairman has decided that:

  • In 19 cases, where the cover names have already been published, the officers’ real names will be restricted: HN1 (‘Matthew Rayner’), HN3 (‘Jason Bishop’), HN12 (‘Michael Hartley’), HN19 (‘Malcolm Shearing’), HN20 (‘Tony Williams’), HN44 (‘Darren Prowse’), HN60 (‘Dave Evans’), HN65 (‘John Kerry’), HN67 (‘Alan Bond’), HN80 (‘Colin Clarke’), HN88 (‘Timothy Spence’), HN90 (‘Mark Kerry’), HN106 (‘Barry Tomkins’), HN155 (‘Phil Cooper’), HN303 (‘Peter Collins’), HN340 (‘Alan Nixon’) and HN351 (‘Jeff Slater’), HN353 (‘Gary Roberts’), and HN354 (‘Vince Miller’).
  • 17 officers will have both the real and cover names restricted (HN6, HN8, HN9, HN21, HN27, HN28, HN53, HN72, HN76, HN86/HN1361, HN87, HN91 , HN97, HN101 , HN102, HN112 and HN355).

The documents described above are accompanied by counsel to the Inquiry’s updated explanatory note.

All rulings on anonymity applications are made by following the legal principles established in May 2016 (PDF, 583KB) ; the reasons for decisions in respect of the above officers are found in today’s Ruling.

Background

The purpose of the Undercover Policing Inquiry is to investigate and report on undercover police operations conducted by English and Welsh police forces in England and Wales since 1968.

The Inquiry will examine the contribution undercover policing has made to tackling crime, how it was and is supervised and regulated, and its effect on individuals involved – both police officers and others who came into contact with them.

The work of the Inquiry ranges across the full scope of undercover policing work and will look at the work of the Special Demonstration Squad, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and police forces in England and Wales. The Inquiry will also examine whether people may have been wrongly convicted in cases involving undercover police officers, and refer any such cases to a separate panel for consideration.

The Inquiry’s investigations are broken down into modules. The descriptions of modules Two and Three have been amended to spell out more clearly the Inquiry’s investigative intentions.

One

Examination of the deployment of undercover officers in the past, their conduct, and the impact of their activities on themselves and others.

Two

Examination of the management and oversight of undercover officers, including their selection, training, supervision, care after the end of an undercover deployment and the legal and regulatory framework within which undercover policing is carried out. Module Two (a) will involve managers and administrators from within undercover policing units. Module Two (b) will involve senior managers higher in the chain of command as well as police personnel who handled intelligence provided by undercover police officers. Module Two (c) will involve a number of other government bodies with a connection to undercover policing, including the Home Office.

Three

Examination of current undercover policing practices and of how undercover policing should be conducted in future.

NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. Decisions on anonymity applications are taken in line with the 3 May 2016 Legal Principles and Approach Ruling (PDF, 583KB).
  2. The Undercover Policing Inquiry is constituted under the Inquiries Act 2005 (PDF, 207KB).
  3. The Inquiry’s terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary on 16 July 2015.
  4. The Inquiry’s Strategic Review (PDF, 829KB) was published in May 2018.
  5. The Inquiry’s Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 96KB) document provides more information on the Inquiry more generally, as do its published update notes.
  6. The Inquiry’s website is www.ucpi.org.uk and the Inquiry can be found on Twitter @ucpinquiry.

For further information please contact the Inquiry’s press officer, Jo Coles:

Email: [email protected]