Judge accuses lawyer representing women duped into having relationships with undercover police of trying to sabotage 'spy cops' probe
The retired judge overseeing the ‘spy cops’ inquiry has accused a human rights lawyer representing women duped into having relationships with undercover police of trying to sabotage the probe.
Sir John Mitting claims barrister Una Morris, attempted to wreck his investigation by demanding he reveal the identity of the officers who had targeted the women in order to infiltrate activists’ groups.
Her last-minute legal challenge on the eve of the public inquiry, which opened this week, was ‘obviously calculated to disrupt’ it, he said in a statement.
Sir John, 73, refused point blank to reverse his ruling to keep secret the names of many undercover officers who worked for the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad.
Sir John Mitting claims barrister Una Morris, attempted to wreck his investigation by demanding he reveal the identity of the officers who had targeted the women in order to infiltrate activists’ groups
The inquiry chairman called the award-winning lawyer’s demand ‘unreasonable and impractical’, adding: ‘I do not intend to disrupt preparations for the hearing... I reject the submission out of hand.’
A spokesman for the judge last night admitted his letter to the barrister could be seen as ‘high-handed’, saying: ‘Some might interpret it that way. He is open and frank.’
The row is the latest in a series of clashes between the targeted women and Sir John over his decision on the officers’ anonymity.
Two years ago the women threatened to boycott the inquiry, dismissing the former judge as ‘the usual white, upper middle-class, elderly gentleman whose life experiences are a million miles away from those who were spied upon’.
Sir John, an ex-High Court judge, is a member of London’s men-only Garrick Club.
Sir John Mitting 73, refused point blank to reverse his ruling to keep secret the names of many undercover officers who worked for the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad
He attended £35,000-a-year Downside boarding school near Bath and lists his hobbies as wine and bridge.
The protests against Sir John’s handling of the huge investigation, looking at undercover policing since 1968, have been backed by Baroness Doreen Lawrence, mother of the murdered teenager Stephen.
She is giving evidence regarding claims that police spied on her family to try to smear them when they campaigned for justice for Stephen, but has complained that the inquiry was ‘cloaked in secrecy and anonymity’.
Lisa, of campaign group Police Spies Out of Lives, which represents nearly 200 of those targeted, said she feared the inquiry could be a waste of time.
‘The judge has restricted not only the real names but the cover names of these officers. So how in the hell are you supposed to get to the truth?’ she said.
It has also emerged that the cost of the inquiry, set up in 2014, has doubled to nearly £60million.
Sir John’s 90-strong team of officials have run up a bill of more than £29million, while the Met has spent more than £30million in the past five years preparing to defend its officers.