The final witness at the #SpyCopsInquiry is Angus McCullough QC representing Category M Core Participants - families of #SpyCops, ie 3 (ex)wives of officers.
He'll focus on:
Who are the women & what are their experiences?
Why are they important to the Inquiry?
What are they looking to get from it?
McCullough: They believed they were supporting their husbands in the fight for the good otf the country
Who are the women & what are their experiences?
Why are they important to the Inquiry?
What are they looking to get from it?
McCullough: They believed they were supporting their husbands in the fight for the good otf the country
McCullough: They provide unique insight into the officers & the management. The Inquiry will hear many heart rending stories of betrayal & deceit. The sacrifices of the wives went beyond anything they thought they were taking on. It has shattered their lives.
McCullough: Each of the women has their own story, but in common they have:
1 - being police wives was woven into their identity, as part of the wider police service. They felt pride in their husbands joining Special Branch, thinking they would be keeping people safe.
1 - being police wives was woven into their identity, as part of the wider police service. They felt pride in their husbands joining Special Branch, thinking they would be keeping people safe.
McCullough: They took on the burden of secrecy and fear of reprisals. They did it without any proper support from the Met. Years later they found out their marriages were based on lies. Their husbands jobs were vehicles for the worst kind of infidelity.
2 - They saw the stress & anger that came with the #SpyCops job. One had the husband say they had to relocate, and was visited at home by manager Bob Lambert. She now doubts the necessity of this & other significant family decisions.
3 - None had any idea their #SpyCops husbands had relationships with women the spied on. All were shocked as they saw the media coverage
4 - Their kids were born into relationships imbued with deceit. They saw the children struggle with their dads' roles at the time, & had to help them rechart the relationships with the publication of the awful truth. Neither kids nor women got support
McCullough: They were an integral part of the process but also exploited by it which is a unique position for the Inquiry. They saw close up the impact on the officers & the lack of support. They occasionally met senior officers & has direct evidence about that & its veracity
McCullough: They can testify about:
a - recruitment process to SDS, inc indications they specifically sought married men in order to keep them grounded [outsource the stress care] without consideration of the damage it was likely to cause.
a - recruitment process to SDS, inc indications they specifically sought married men in order to keep them grounded [outsource the stress care] without consideration of the damage it was likely to cause.
McCullough: they were vetted as support for husbands but no support was offered to them.
b - their understanding of the type of work #SpyCops did & that targets were serious violent criminals.
b - their understanding of the type of work #SpyCops did & that targets were serious violent criminals.
McCullough: when the women found out which groups were infiltrated they were horrified at how they'd been lied to
c - the impact of unsocial hours, absences (inc holidays with the officers' activist-relationship women)
d - lack of support to officers & families.
c - the impact of unsocial hours, absences (inc holidays with the officers' activist-relationship women)
d - lack of support to officers & families.
McCullough: managers promised support yet it never materialised. With 1 exception, there has been no support since the #SpyCops scandal broke. No warnings, no support before during or after
McCullough:
e - testify as to frequency of contact between spycops & managers, which was basically daily & gives the lie to claims managers didn't know what officers did
e - testify as to frequency of contact between spycops & managers, which was basically daily & gives the lie to claims managers didn't know what officers did
McCullough: they ask the Inquiry to trust them just as they were asked to be trusted by the Met (& have honoured). The trust the Inquiry to get to the truth.
They ask for 3 things:
1 - recognition of their role. The women deceived into relationships have received an apology, but not the wives of officers. Why has the Met not acknowledged the sacrifice they had to make & damage to them & their families?
1 - recognition of their role. The women deceived into relationships have received an apology, but not the wives of officers. Why has the Met not acknowledged the sacrifice they had to make & damage to them & their families?
McCullough: how much did the women make the officers a safe bet for spycop duty? Why were they encouraged to have kids even as the stresses piled up? What promises were made to wives? What support were officers offered, anything the women weren't told about?
McCullough: why were the requests for support for wives ignored? Who in the SDS knew about spycops deceiving women into relationships? Were they authorised? Why weren't wives told before they were made public?
McCullough: Spycops should not deceive people they spy on into relationships. Nobody should be subjected to it, nor families have to deal with it. The wives are dismayed by the police lawyers' attempts to minimise and justify the abhorrent practice.
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