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4 Nov, 16 tweets, 5 min read
Next speaker at the #SpyCopsInquiry is Richard Whittam QC representing Slater & Gordon Clients (12 ex #SpyCops)
Whittam: an uninitiated observer maydeceiving think the Inquiry was just about #SpyCops deceivng women into relationships, but it's much more than that. But it doesn't include blaming individual officers.
Whittam: the Inquiry will examine inappropriate deployment and tactics. Eg management & supervisory structure, targeting & authorisation, reporting on justice campaigns, management's attitude to relationships & commission of crime, welfare of officers & families
Whittam: There are many more issues, but these are of particular importance to my clients. Their service & this Inquiry have had a significant impact on their mental health. We were told the Inquiry would report in 2018 [it was delayed by the police!]
Whittam: Some of my clients are the subject of campaigns to expose their identity. Some of them had relationships but it's important not to judge the fact in isolation - one of these relationships continues to this day
Whittam: in 2015 the Met apologised to some women deceived into relationships by #SpyCops and said it would never be authorised in advance or used operationsally
Whittam: #SpyCops officer Jim Boyling faced investigation for sexual offences for his deceiving of women into sexual relationships. It's a heavy burden to bear.
Rosa, one of the women Boyling deceived into a relationship told the BBC "If you put all these things together, you have a team of officers conspiring to rape" bbc.com/news/uk-wales-…
Whittam: Since 2000 there has been the principle of 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' if anyone is an undercover officer [Here's @helensteel12 on that campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2016/03/30/hel… ]
Whittam: There is a legal basis for allowing #SpyCops to commit crime when undercover. Now the #CHISBill is brought in as the government see that commission of crime is an essential feature of undercover work getting to the heart of groups that would cause the public harm
Whittam: #SpyCops committing crime is essential for national security and the prevention & detection of crime. So we need to see the Met 2015 apology to women abused by officers 'in context'
Whittam: #SpyCops are now expected to report any relationship or crime, or even communications of a sexual nature. The 2015 apology to women doesn't see the big picture.
Whittam: Is it credible that no manager knew about #SpyCops relationships? did any give approval? Perhaps there are too many for it to be possible to blame individual officers. Some relationships were with people who weren't part of a group being spied on, but this is overlooked.
Whittam: Hindsight is no answer to what system was or wasn't in place. Jim Boyling, in addition to legal action for rape, was subject to misconduct proceedings [they sacked him in 2018 theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/m… ]
Whittam: Perhaps it was justified to have a relationship to build and maintain an undercover persona.
Whittam: None of our clients tasked others to report on the Lawrence campaign. None participated in breaching legal professional privilege.

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More from @copscampaign

5 Nov
Finally today at the #SpyCopsInquiry, Donal O'Driscoll @PeterSalmon7.
O'Driscoll: Victims of spycops are here despite the trauma. People were abused, democracy was attacked by spycops, yet we're told they need protecting & must have anonymity.The Inquiry has priotised the wants of abusers
O'Driscoll: I've seen spycops files full of lies. They have also covered the tracks. you need the victims to get the truth. The officers were trained to lie, to ask the right question needs our knowledge.
Read 30 tweets
5 Nov
This afternoon at the #SpyCopsInquiry, conclusion of opening statement of Matthew Ryder QC speaking for Core Participants represented by Mike Schwarz, Simon Creighton, Tamsin Allen & Jules Carey - ie majority of spied-on CPs. After that it's Donal O'Driscoll @PeterSalmon7 at 5pm
Ryder: Spycops targeted family justice campaigns & community organisations. Less 'political', ore about police misconduct. The preponderence of black campaigns shows how their race was part of the threat they were supposed to pose campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2018/02/14/whi…
Ryder: Celia Stubbs's partner Blair Peach was killed by police in 1979. Lee Lawrence's mother cherry Groce was shot by police in 1985. Myrna Simpson's daughter Joy Gardner died after restraint by police in 1993. Bernard Renwick's brother died in 1999 after being restrained.
Read 101 tweets
5 Nov
Next at the #SpyCopsInquiry, opening statement of Matthew Ryder QC speaking for Core Participants represented by Mike Schwarz, Simon Creighton, Tamsin Allen & Jules Carey - ie majority of spied-on CPs + others such as families whose dead child's identity was stolen by #SpyCops
A list of the #SpyCopsInquiry's core participants, the category they have been assigned & their legal representatives is on the @ucpinquiry site:
ucpi.org.uk/core-participa…
Ryder: I speak for 100+ individuals & groups whose targeting by spycops inappropriate & improperly regulated & abused their rights. From a variety of backgrounds, all deserve answers. Officers must be called to account, as must system that permitted it
Read 67 tweets
5 Nov
Menon: Richard Adams say the Inquiry seems to be damage limitation for spycops. There is no reason to refuse to live stream hearings. Whose side is the criminal justice system on? It dehumanises black people & families
Menon: Duwayne Brooks was 18 in 1993, living in SE London, training to be an electrical engineer. Stehen Lawrence was his close friend. In April 1993 they were attacked by racists & Stephen was murdered. He got PTSD
Menon: Police were hostile to Brooks. His courage exposed the racist nature of the attack. It mirrored the Adams experience; a racist attack with victims treated like criminals & subjected to spycops surveillance. Brooks did everything asked of him. Assisted 3 investigations
Read 17 tweets
5 Nov
First up at the #SpyCopsInquiry today is Rajiv Menon QC speaking for some spied-on people, finishing his statement that he started yesterday. He's talking about Tariq Ali, activist from the 60s to today, who will be the first to give witness evidence next week.
Menon: Ernie Tate would be giving evidence but, with such long delays, he is now too ill to give evidence in person. He was a founder of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. The VSC was an open, nonviolent organisation, yet was targeted by the Special Demonstration Squad
Mnon: Tate was a founder of the Intyernational Marxist Group & became a friend of Tariq Ali. He has written a 2 volume memoir about his 60s work. He's always been open about his politics, no clandestine spying was necessary to find it out
Read 41 tweets
4 Nov
Finally at the #SpyCopsInquiry, we'll hear the opening statement from Rajiv Menon QC, on behalf of core participants represented by Jane Deighton & Richard Parry. We'll live tweet the statement in this thread.
Jane Deighton represents Audrey, Nathan & Richard Adams, the family of teenager Rolan Adams who was murdered by racists in February 1991 & whose campaign was one of those targeted by #SpyCops.
campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2018/02/14/whi…
Jane also represents @DuwayneBrooks, friend of Stephen Lawrence & prime witness to Stephen's murder. Duwayne has twice been prosecuted on wholly trumped up charges that were thrown out of court as an abuse of process.
Read 42 tweets

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