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| Dead children ID use by undercover police kept from families | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Relatives of 42 dead children whose identities were assumed by undercover police officers will not be told that it happened, a report has confirmed. | |
| The Metropolitan Police offered a general apology for the "shock and offence" the practice had caused. | |
| But Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said revealing the identities used would endanger the officers concerned. | |
| The report, led by Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon, follows claims about use of the tactics in the 1980s. | |
| Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that undercover police stole the identities of about 80 children who had died at an early age. | |
| Sir Bernard said 14 families had contacted the Met to ask whether the identities of their relatives had been used by undercover officers. | |
| The Met had apologised to them, and to another family that had heard separately that it might be affected by the revelations, he said. | |
| "Undercover officers are brave men and women" and maintaining their anonymity is "vital", Sir Bernard said, | |
| He continued: "There are criminals behind bars and at large today who would have no qualms in doing serious harm if they discovered a former close confidant had been working for the police. | |
| "That's why undercover officers spent so much time building up their 'legend' or false identity, and why that identity must be protected for ever." |