Police officer admits to having undercover sex with woman in 1970s

A married police officer admitted to having sex with someone he had been covertly spying on.

Former Home Secretary Theresa May set up the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) in 2015 after independent reviews found “appalling practices in undercover policing”.

This included, as was usual for undercover officers, “getting women to have sex with them.”

Recent UCPI hearings have looked at the Metropolitan Police’s covert Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which used to help prosecutors investigate protest groups, often left-wing activists.

Last fall, the UCPI learned of the conduct of several SDS officers between July 1968 and December 1983.

One of the five anonymous officers who testified as HN21 spoke about his infiltration of the Socialist Workers Party in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

HN21 said he met an unnamed woman after seeing her frequently at the group’s evening classes.

The officer claims the woman was not an activist and described her as “apolitical”. HN21 said he “alluded to his backstory but didn’t go into detail” when he introduced himself to her.

The couple are said to have had sex twice while using contraception – for six or seven months each time. They also “kissed and cuddled” on other occasions.

“Like most SDS undercover agents [HN21] was a married man,” the inquest’s counsel, David Barr QC, said in transcripts released on Monday.

Reportedly, “HN21 regretted what he had done but could not explain why he had done it”.

Originally, HN21 said he “don’t really know” why he made those decisions.

But he went on to explain: “It was a specific time and place, which was a bit surreal. And there have been situations in which they have been used that have become surreal.

“It became unreal. You forgot what your real work was and started to relax, which is really dangerous. That’s when things go horribly wrong.

“I regret that from a personal point of view, from my upbringing and also from a professional point of view, but it was a weakness that I regret.

“I wasn’t professional and didn’t follow what I should have done.”

Mr Barr added: “HN21 knew what he was doing was wrong and said he hadn’t told anyone.”

UCPI has tried to track down the woman HN21 had sex with, but they have been unable to locate her.

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