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Police use of dead children's identities 'was common practice' | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The use of dead children's identities by the Met Police's special demonstrations squad was "common practice", MPs have been told. | |
In a letter about the Operation Herne inquiry into undercover policing, investigation head Mick Creedon said no affected families had been informed. | |
Claims over use of identities relate to the squad's operations in the 1980s. | |
Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz said families affected must be contacted as a matter of urgency. | |
The row comes more than two years after an undercover officer was revealed to have infiltrated environmental protests groups where he had relationships with two women. | |
While the practice of undercover officers using the names of dead children has been known about for at least a decade, an article in the Guardian in February estimated 80 members of the special demonstrations squad had done so. | |
Chief Constable Mick Creedon said there had been a number of speculative inquires from relatives of children who had died asking the Met to confirm their identities had not been used. | |
"No families of children whose identities have been used have been contacted and informed," he wrote. | |
"No answer either positive or negative has yet been given in relation to these inquires from families." | |
He said the issue was "very complicated and mistakes could put lives in jeopardy". | |
But he said that, as he got to grips with his role as head of the inquiry - to which he was appointed in February - "addressing this issue and providing some reassurance to the public is one of my foremost concerns". |