Thread by @copscampaign

We are due to hear from HN347 this afternoon.
He used the cover name 'Alex Sloan' to infiltrate a number of groups, including the Irish National Liberation Solidarity Front (INLSF) who we heard about yesterday.
#SpyCops

The #spycopsinquiry has just published his witness statement: ucpi.org.uk/publications/f…

HN347 says he has no recollection of being recruited to the #spycops unit. His witness statement says that he had no formal training. Asked by Barr how he knew what was expected of him, he asked if this was in “moral terms” or otherwise.

Was he given any guidance in what kind of information that Special Branch would find interesting? Barr asked.

He knew – from his own time in the branch – that they “would be inteersted in anything that was subversive to the State”.

He said that those ho joined Special Branch were “probably politically aware anyway”

Did he understand what was and was not considered 'subversive'?

It wasn't for me to judge... I would just listen... and relay the facts to my senior officers...”

He says that he never committed any criminal offences and this would have been against his nature.
He conceded that people might have done something 'minor', but never something that was “serious and violent”

“You can remember the truth easily but to remember your lies is very difficult sometimes” provoked some laughter in the hearing room.

He thought Special Branch were quite intelligent, and would make well-considered decisions.

He was not given any guidance about what to do if his cover was blown.

He was also asked if he had an understanding of the term 'legal professional privilege' and made it clear that he did not.

According to HN347, if you went into a target group and were offered a responsible position (treasurer, secretary etc) you would accept it. He said this was neither encouraged or not by the managers.

He had a rent book in his fake name, but no driving licence, pay slips or library card. He didn't think that this caused him any difficulty. He worked as a mechanic, but nobody ever asked to see his driving licence.

In fact, he doesn't recall using any documents to back up his cover story. “I was never asked that sort of question”.

He thinks things like fake ID hadn't been thought about much at this point; he believes that things evolved after he left the unit.

He confirmed that he was never asked to write an autobiography for 'Alex Sloan'. He admits that he didn't fully consider the risks at the time, but looking back now, he can see that this could have been “pretty dangerous”.

Next we saw [MPS-0730521] A memo from Saunders to Commnader Cunningham, dated 11th February 19971.
ucpi.org.uk/publications/s…

Paragraph 4 is about the money spent on rent.
HQ Flat 1 and Flat 2 are listed, alongside the amount spent per month on renting them.

HN347 is at the bottom of the list – it appears that he was paid £20 every 4 weeks for his cover accommodation. He describes it as a bedsit.
HN345's cover flat cost £21 every 4 weeks, so was presumably also a bedsit?

He described the flat where the #apycops met – he remembers a large lounge but says he doesn't remember the other rooms. Attendance varied – 6-8 undercovers at the most – plus the two senior officers.

According to the SDS's 1971 Annual Report, they began looking for a second cover flat.

It seems from the Memo that there were two cover flats operating at the same time.

HN347 only knew about one.
“It was too big to be just a bed-sit” said HN347.

Mitting interjected. HN45 has told us that he occasionally slept in one of the safe houses– “because there was material there that needed to be kept safe” -so he wonders if it is possible that HN347 wrongly believed this to be his cover flat? HN347 agrees that this might explain

We learnt a little more about the #spycops unit's regular meetings. These were usually attended by two senior officers. HN347 says he can't remember writing stuff down so may have memorised intelligence before passing it on. He can't remember who typed the reports.

He saw the weekly meetings as a social gathering, a chance for the undercovers to get together and relax.

They obviously didn't have mobile phones, but in many cases didn't have land-lines either, so would use phone-boxes. This weekly meeting was often the main time when they could communicate directly with their managers.

HN347 confirmed that he felt able to vent about issues at these meetings, and seek advice from his colleagues. He said they were “very open meetings”.

They sometimes talked about upcoming demonstrations.
They also talked about admin – expenses etc. He reiterated that this weekly meeting was the #spycops' main chance to communicate to their managers; otherwise they'd have had to arrange a meeting with them somewhere else.

HN347 said that he wasn't “terribly socially close “to his fellow #spycops; he explained that he didn't drink. However he recalls being able to relax and have a laugh with the other members of the SDS, and the managers.

HN347 was asked if he ever tried to influence the direction of the groups he spied on.
In response he said “You have to be very careful what you do” – he explained that he would have checked in with his senior managers first.

When he was in Special Branch, he would often attend political meetings at places like Speakers Corner and Red Lion Square. However this was just done in plain clothes, not using any sort of undercover identity.

According to him “you garnish a lot more information” from being inside a group in the way that the SDS officers were.

He wasn't permitted to take overtime.
The next questions were about his welfare.
HN347 explained that his wife was “very very supportive”, at the time his wife worked and they had no children.

He said he could understand where Barr was coming from – he had colleagues who were deep undercover who may have had more difficulties with their work-life balance – however the #spycops lifestyle suited him ok.