Inquiry into alleged police plot to spy on Stephen Lawrence family expanded
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Version 0 of 1. An official watchdog has widened its investigation into police officers who were allegedly involved in a clandestine plot to spy on the family of Stephen Lawrence, the teenager murdered by a racist gang. On Wednesday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) disclosed that two more officers have been placed under investigation. The pair join three other officers - including a Scotland Yard commander - who were already being investigated. All five have been accused of gross misconduct. The IPCC started its inquiry a year ago after an official review alleged that police had gathered “fascinating and valuable” intelligence from an undercover officer who was spying on the Lawrence family and their backers. The review, conducted by Mark Ellison QC, alleged that the intelligence could be seen to be giving the Metropolitan Police a secret advantage over the family at a time when a public inquiry was examining how the force had bungled the investigation into Stephen’s murder. This, it is alleged, potentially undermined the inquiry in the 1990s by Sir William Macpherson, a former high court judge, and public confidence. The three officers known to be under investigation are Commander Richard Walton, the head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, Bob Lambert (one of the most criticised figures in the police’s long-running undercover infiltration of political groups - see this and this), and Colin Black, a one-time Met commander. The announcement of the investigation by the IPCC last June can be read here, along with a Guardian article here. The names of the two former officers who have now come under investigation have not been disclosed. The IPCC described them as being “retired” Metropolitan Police officers who have been “identified within the management structure of the Special Demonstration Squad at the relevant time who may have some involvement or knowledge of the meeting with the undercover officer.” The Met was criticised last October when it announced that Walton was to return to his job before the IPCC investigation had been completed. Walton had been “temporarily” moved from his post as head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command in March last year after his alleged involvement in the plot to spy on the Lawrences came to light. Last October, Imran Khan, the lawyer representing Doreen Lawrence, Stephen’s mother, told the BBC : “She is appalled by the decision to put him back on operational duties even before the investigation is complete.” The latest IPCC statement (which can be found here) discloses that Walton, along with Lambert and Black, was interviewed by the IPCC in December. |