Thread by @copscampaign

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.

Ryder: Beyond those killed by police, Sukhdev & Tish Reel lost Ricky Reel after he was attacked by racists. Michael Menson died after being set alight by white youths.

Ryder: Other core participants here are Winston Silcott was wrongly convicted of murder of PC Blacklock, & Stafford Scott who supported those arrested in the aftermath of the Broadwater Farm uprising in 1985

Ryder: Sharin Grant's late husband, MP Bernie Grant, supported many such campaigns & was spied on. All these & others were merely seeking justice over police malpractice

Ryder: I will focus on Celia Stubbs, & the Blair Peach campaign. The protest in Southall in 1979 was against the racist National Front. Blair was a teacher & trade unionist.

Ryder: 11 witnesses saw 6 police get out of a van & one give Peach a fatal blow to the head. The determined cover up lasted decades. Commander Cass' investigation said officers were 'clearly obstructing' the investigation

Ryder: police officers refused to answer questions. Cass was clear a police officer had killed Peach, & officers wanted to keep the secret. All officers claimed amnesia. Cass' report was kept from the inquest & was unpublished for 31 years, until 2010.

Ryder: coroner wrote to politicians before the inquest had finished to say the idea Peach was killed by police as a political lie. He indicated to the Home Office that the investigation was biased. Stubbs knew none of this.

Ryder: Stubbs says it can't be expressed how exhausting it is to suffer bereavement then face such official intransigence. [The guilty officer has been identitifed] No officer has ever been charged. Stubbs help found @INQUEST_ORG for people in similar positions

Ryder: Stubbs knew her phone was tapped but didn't suspect she was spied on by #SpyCops. There can be no justification for it. There were no secret meetings. She finds it especially distressing that there was undercover reporting at Blair's funeral.

Ryder: Stubbs says spycops lost all sense of the fact that Blair was killed by police, & his loved ones' distress was criminalised. Stubbs has had no explanation for why she was spied on, nor why it was kept secret - no officer blew the whistle.

Ryder: Spying on the Blair Peach campaign was a gross abuse of the trust given to police. They wanted to stay one step ahead of the campaign to assist the police in frustrating the attempts to secure accountability.

Ryder: Stubbs got an apology from police in 2015. It is not enough, it must just be a starting point.

Ryder: The police lawyer's opening statement cited the thousands of public order events in London, & cited the deaths of Kevin Gately & Blair Peach. This was an offensive comment. Blair was killed BY police, & the truth covered up for decades.

Ryder: Peach was not killed by protest or protesters. His killing does not stand as justification for Spycops. What would have saved him was restraint of police brutality against a campaigner against racism. It's an outrageous way to start the Inquiry

Ryder: in 1985, Lee Lawrence saw his mother Cherry Groce shot by police at their home by officer Lovelock. She used a wheelchair for the rest of their life, and the injuries contributed to her death

Ryder: In 2014 an inquest found that the shooting had contributed to her death. Mr Lawrence has sat on advisory boards helping police improve tactics. His positive attitude has built bridges, yet he was spied on.

Ryder: in 1993 joy Gardner was at home with her 3 year old son when there was a raid by police and immigration,. Her hands were bound to her sides, legs strapped together, and 13 feet of tape wrapped round her head. She was asphyxiated. 3 officers were acquitted of manslaughter

Ryder: Joy Garner's mother Myrna Simpson was spied on by the SDS. We do not know why

Ryder: Ricky Reel's family have been campaigning for an investigation into his racist murder in 1997, which they treated as an accident. The police investigation was subject to two inquiries, but the reports are confidential.

Ryder: The police investigation disregarded the racial harrassment of Ricky Reel immediately prior to his death. They decided it was accidental death before the investigation was complete. The family were told in 2013 they had been spied on

Ryder: for the Reel family to find out they were spied on on top of Ricky's death & the failed police investigation has had a horrific impact. Resources that weren't available to investigate the death were given to the spying on them.

Ryder: on 28 January 1997 Michael Menson was found having been set alkight. He said he'd bneen attacked. He died of injuries in Feb. Police treated is as self-immolation; the family said it should be murder. The inquest ruled it unlawful killing.

Ryder: In 1999 3 men were convicted of the murder. Cambs police investigation found racism inc police officer saying 'I don't know why they're so worried, this only concerns a fucking black schizophrenic'.

Ryder: Michael Menson's family was told in 2014 that the SDs had spied on their campaign. They saw heavily redacted files from over ten years, 1998-99. The family grieved for Michael, and were let down by the police investigating. To this day, they don't know the full truth

Ryder: It wasn't merely police incompetence, but manipulation.

Ryder: on 11 Jan 1999 Rogewr Sylvester was acutely unwell with a mental health episode. He was taken away by police & was restrained & died from it. The inquest jury ruled it unlawful killing, but this was overturned by the High Court

Ryder: Roger Sylvester's family have seen redacted reports on the funeral.

Ryder: In 1985, after the death of Cynthia Jarret during a police raid. A protest the next day became volatile, and PC Keith Blakelock was stabbed to death. Winston Silcott was convicted, despite not even being at the scene. Officers had fabricated incriminating notes.

Ryder: Silcott's conviction was quashed in 1991. He was spied on for up to 10 years after. #Spycops officer john Dines lived in a house overlooking the Silcott family home. Why?

Ryder: After the Broadwater Farm disturbance, Stafford Scott worked to support people arrested. Scott was arrested during the investigation into the death of Blakelock, & later had to compensate Scott. He has devoted his time to supporting victims of police malpractice.

Ryder: The Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign was the subject of burglaries that spycops are suspected of committing. Spycop John Dines attended a demo supporting the campaign

Ryder: Dr Graham Smith was part of the Hackney Community Defence Association in the 80s & 90s, along with Mark Metcalfe. They supported victims of police brutality & abuses of power.

Ryder: In 1993 Smith & Metcalfe established the Colin Roach Centre, which hosted civil rights activists. It was burgled & its computers destroyed. In 1995, spycops officer Mark Jenner, infiltrated the CRC. He became very active in it, inc writing for its bulletin.

Ryder: Spycops officer Mark Jenner was privy to confidential information about cases against the police. He then turned his attention to trade union activity, becoming chair of one group

Ryder: Sharon Grant is the widow of Bernie Grant, MP for Tottenham 1987-2000. he was one of the 3 first black MPs elected. He supported some of the cases mentioned inc Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign. He challenged stop & search, & apartheid, & frequently travelled abroad for it

Ryder: Sharon was Bernie's office manager & an activist in her own right. Was she also targeted by spycops? What justification was even given at the time for spying on an MP? Who else saw the intel - the press who vilified him?

Ryder: Diane Abbott was elected at the same time as Bernie Grant, the first black woman in the Commons. She's been a leading anti racism campaigner for decades, supporting campaigns inc Blair Peach & Stephen Lawrence. Whistleblower @realspycop says Abbott was spied on while an MP

Ryder: Joan Ruddock @joan_dame has supported many progressive causes and was an MP & minister. She too was spied on by #SpyCops whilst an MP.

Ryder: none of these campaigns should have been spied on, nor the MPs. It wasn't insensitive to grieving families; it was police shielding other officers from legitimate criticism & expose police wrongdoing.

Ryder: The targeting of black campaigns & MPs mirrors the very complaints community campaigns were making. In merely seeking accountability by lawful means they were subjected to the kind of intrusive spying people would think was reserved for serious & violent criminal activity

Ryder: Unjustified, unregulated political policing like this distorts the ability of the public to engage with the political process. The intent of those sanctioning the spying must have been doing it solely to help police escape criticism & sanction.

Ryder: Victims were treated as perpetrators. We want to know not just who did it but who sanctioned it. The #SpyCopsInquiry needs to know how high this was sanctioned. What level approved or failed to prevent it?

Ryder: This has a particularly disturbing aspect: unaccountable police undermining campaigns for police accountability. All the people I speak for, irrespective of their own ethnicity, want the Inquiry to be unflinching in exposing the racism of this policing.

Ryder: Spycops took part in direct action protests & caused miscarriages of justice. #SpyCops influenced & planned actions, including encouraging unlawful activity for which participants were convicted and even jailed. This was entrapment

Ryder: Managers who should have been providing oversight were tolerating, even encouraging this unlawful behaviour. Courts weren't told. Proper disclosure & integrity of evidence were disregarded. It's not only contempt for the spied-upon but for the legal process & rule of law

Ryder: Home office guidance was clear - #Spycops mustn't be agents provocateur, nor ever mislead a court [as cited in our post about spycops & miscarriages of justice campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2017/02/16/law… ]

Ryder: The SDS Tradecraft Manual actively discouraged #Spycops from admitting their real identity to arresting police. ucpi.org.uk/publications/s…

Ryder: #Spycops officer 'Mike Scott' infiltrated a 1972 anti apartheid demo, was arrested & convicted under his fake ID [described here by one of those wrongly convicted, Professor Jonathan Rosenhead ]

Ryder: #Spycops arrested on protests were party to defence meetings with their lawyers, breaching legal privilege, & it was reported to the SDS.

Ryder: #spycops officer Mike Scott withheld evidence that exonerated the activists convicted - he knew they weren't on a public highway as alleged.

Ryder: the Spycops Tradecraft Manual itself warns of the risk of being fitted up by uniformed officers.

Ryder: Andrew Clarke & Geoff Shepherd were animal rights activists in the 1980s & 90s. Shepherd was convicted 3 times, each with a spycops officer involved.

Ryder: clarke & Shepherd were convicted of incendiary devices intended to set off sprinklers in Debenhams. Afte they found out Bob Lambert was a spycops officer, they appealed their convictions

Ryder: At their trial, Clarke & Shepherd were convicted of joint enterprise, even though they may not have planted all the devices. There was no evidence of Clarke planting any. The Crown said a 3rd person planted one. That was #Spycops officer Bob Lambert

Ryder: clarke & Shepherd served long sentences. Lambert's role was kept secret. He went on to run the SDS & get an MBE for services to policing bbc.com/news/uk-politi…

Ryder: Spycop John Dines was involved in Shepherd's second conviction. Later, spycops Matt Rayner encouraged Shepherd to get a shotgun, for which he was then convicted

Ryder: It seems that neither prosecutors nor the courts were aware of #spycops' involvement. These spycops had access to the defendant's legal activity. This is secret police overriding the rule of law with nobody approving it but themselves.

[And with that, there will be a ten minute break]

Allegations of #SpyCops officer Bob Lambert's involvement in the 1987 firebombing of Debenham's in Harrow were first made in 2012. 4 years later the Met said they were undertaking a criminal investigation. 3 more years later, Oct 2019, it was still ongoing whatdotheyknow.com/request/final_…

Ryder: Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) waas a group campaigning to close Huntingdon Life Sciences vivisection labs. Several activists were convicted of blackmail in 2013. Numerous spycops including Rod Richardson & Mark Kennedy were involved + corporate spy Adrain Radford

Numerous spycops including Rod Richardson & Mark Kennedy were involved as well as corporate spy Adrain Radford, and it's thought that there were more. Spycops gave witness statements to court for Debbie Vincent's trial, & we believe it happened in SHAC trials

Ryder: John Jordan was convicted in 1997 for a Reclaim the Streets action - all other defendants inc spycops officer Jim Boyling were acquitted. Conviction was quashed in 2014 without disclosure of evidence. Judge said it would come out at this Inquiry bindmans.com/news/courts-qu…

Ryder: Spycops officer Lynn Watson was tried for an action at the Department of Transport

Ryder: In April 2009, 114 climate activists were arrested planning a protest to shut down Ratcliffe power station, inc spycop Mark Kennedy. 26 were charged. 20 admitted the plan but said it was justified, and they were convicted in 2010

Ryder: 6 denied it, but just before their trial they knew Kennedy was a spycop so asked for his evidence. The CPS dropped all charges in Jan 2011 [but claimed it wasn't to do with Kennedy]

Ryder: The Ratcliffe 20 then had their convictions quashed. The judge said inquiries inc the #SpyCopsInquiry would make everything clear. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-142038…

Ryder: A year before the Ratclifee arrests, in 2008 29 climate activists were arresgted for stopping a coal train going to Drax power station in north yorkshire. The activists acted totally peacefully & with impeccable health & safety. They were convicted

Ryder: After Kennedy was unmasked, the Drax 29's convictions were quashed. The judge suggested Kennedy was an agent provocteur itv.com/news/story/201…

Ryder: In 1996 hunt saboteiurs went to Good Easter in Essex. They were stopped & searched & several arrested. In a similar instance, another person was arrested after a stop.

Ryder: The police were extremely aggressive, chiming with treatment of animal rights protesters in the SDS Tradecraft Manual in which spycops officer Andy Coles said he developed a low opinion of uniformed officers dealing with animal rights activists.

Ryder: He said it was 'often out of proportion to your behaviour'.

Those arrested later received compensation. But one of them was spycop Jim Boyling.

Ryder: Boyling had seen unlawful police behaviour, & given a witness statement to that effect. But as it was thought to be just another hunt sab, it carried no weight.

Ryder: Protesters going to RAF Fairford at the start of the Iraq War were turned back, police shut off all exits from the motorway to London. Police said it was because protesters called WOMBLES who were allegedly intent on disorder.

Ryder: One of the passengers, Jane LaPorte, brought a judicial review which found in her favour & against the police. This went to the High Court &House of Lords. Police had said they had 'no basis for distinguishing between passengers'.

Ryder: But #spycops officer Rod Richardson was on one of the coaches. He knew who was on there, 7 their intentions; he would also have known who was & wan't in the WOMBLES. Spycop Jason Bishop had helped organise it, & would have known about the passengers.

Ryder: They misled the highest appeal court in the land, claiming not to have intel they clearly had.

Ryder: London Animal Action was a collective of animal rights groups founded in 1994. Numerous spycops joined: Andy Coles, Matt Rayner, Christine Green, & Dave Evans. Bob Lambert was manager of some of these. All but Evans had relationships with people they spied on

Ryder: corporate spies infiltrated LAA. Did they get intel from spycops?

Ryder: In 2005, The Common Place social centre was founded in Leeds. Its first treasurer was spycops officer Lynn Watson who filed accounts under a false name. After she left & this was realised, the centre had to close.

Ryder: There are surely more miscarriages of justice due to Spycops [what if Mark Kennedy hadn't happened to be exposed? 49 convictions would still stand. how many more are still secret? ].

Ryder: Mark Ellison & Alison Morgan's 2015 report found spycops routinely withheld evidence from courts when they were involved in cases. gov.uk/government/pub…

Ryder: All spycops miscarriages of justice cases that have been reviewed have been the result of those convicted raising concerns, not from the police coming clean

Ryder: Ellison's report also said that the lack of surviving records means we can't tell what evidence once existed that would have changed court cases.

Ryder: This is extremely disturbing - the secrecy of spycops means the facts of what they did were deliberately withheld from courts & some miscarriages of justice can never be rectified

Ryder: Ellison identified 26 SDS officers arrested on more than 50 occasions. But it couldn't identify all potential miscarriages of justice. Those spied upon, who have done better than police or CPS on this issue, must have a central role at the Inquiry.

Ryder: There are probably many other miscarriages of justice due to spycops. The refusal of police & the Inquiry to release documents, & pictures of spycops, are obstacles to discovering more.

Ryder: Core participants targeted by #SpyCops are not confident the #SpyCopsInquiry will reach the truth. After years of asking, they've been told almost nothing. It makes it hard for them to properly contribute

Ryder: Police lawyer said criticism of spycops misses the point because if there were a right to be heard without the police knowing in advance, it would have to apply to all regardless of their politics, and that would be pandemonium

Ryder: We think the right to be heard without police knowing in advance is a human right of freedom of expression, it should not apply to those who agree with the state.

Ryder: The behaviour of spycops was consistent with what they were told was acceptable & encouraged to do; it was systemic, not rogue officers.

Ryder: In exposing the truth about spycops, there has been a huge human cost. The spied-on did the work themselves to find out the truth, which is traumatic in itself. But it's made harder because of the obstructions by police.

Had it been left to the police alone, we would never have heard of it.

Ryder: Discovering for themselves they were spied on has had profound, long lasting & damaging impact on the activists themselves.

Ryder: Undercover policing of this kind must never happen again. Even at this early stage of the inquiry, we should be looking for what changes the Inquiry will recommend for the future.

Ryder: We want to know what the purpose of the spying - even if it was legit, was there an illegitimate purpose? Was it tainted by racism or other prejudices? Is the purpose a retrospective excuse that can't be verified?

Ryder: What was the framework spycops worked to, and what evidence is there of adherence to it? If it existed, why did it fail to protect victims?

Ryder: The Inquiry itself is a test of whether an inquiry process can deliver justice & explanations to the wronged. It must deliver the truth we all deserve and have waited so long to hear.

Ryder concludes. Donal O' Driscoll is the next & final speaker of the day at 5pm.