Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Peter Francis, who says he says he posed as an anti-racism campaigner, served in the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad
The prime minister has called for an immediate investigation into reports the police wanted to smear the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Undercover officer Peter Francis says he was instructed in 1993 to find information that could discredit the family and anti-racism campaigners.
Scotland Yard has refused to confirm or deny the claims made in the Guardian.
Lord Condon, Met chief at time of the murder investigation, has denied any knowledge of a smear campaign.
Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to set out details of an inquiry into the allegations in the Commons later.
The BBC understands the inquiry will be carried out by Mark Ellison QC, who is already conducting a review into police corruption in the initial investigation of Stephen Lawrence's murder.
Mr Ellison was one of the prosecutors in the trial of Gary Dobson and David Norris, which saw the pair convicted of Mr Lawrence's murder in January 2012.
'Tarring the campaign'Former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC he would be asking the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate the allegations.
Mr Francis told the Guardian and Channel 4's Dispatches programme he had posed as an anti-racism campaigner in a hunt for "disinformation" to use against those criticising the police.
He said the Metropolitan Police were concerned the reaction to the Lawrence murder might result in rioting similar to that following the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw: "We should have been told about why the police were doing this"
Working as part of the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad, which specialised in gathering intelligence on political activists, he said he came under pressure to find "any intelligence that could have smeared the campaign" - including whether any of the family were political activists, involved in demonstrations or drug dealers.
Mr Francis, who used the name Peter Black while under cover, says the aim of his operation was to ensure that the public "did not have as much sympathy for the Stephen Lawrence campaign" and to persuade "the media to start maybe tarring the campaign".
A Number 10 spokesman said: "The prime minister is deeply concerned by reports that the police wanted to smear Stephen Lawrence's family and would like the Metropolitan Police to investigate immediately.
"It is important that there is a process that can command the confidence of Stephen Lawrence's family and the public."
"Start Quote
End Quote Metropolitan Police spokesmanAt some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth"
Lord Condon, who was Met commissioner from 1993 until 2000, told BBC News he backed an early investigation to establish the truth of the allegations.
He added: "I can say categorically that at no time during my time as commissioner did I authorise or condone or was aware of the sort of smear operation that's been described in the Guardian.
"I don't know if it's true or not, but I can certainly say that from a senior level, as far as I'm concerned, there was no such operation."
London Mayor Boris Johnson, whose responsibilities include oversight of the Met, said he had already spoken to current Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe about the claims and pledged to "leave absolutely no stone unturned".
Doreen Lawrence said she was shocked and angry at the disclosure. She said: "Out of all the things I've found out over the years, this certainly has topped it."
"It just makes me really, really angry that all of this has been going on and all the time trying to undermine us as a family."
Operation HerneDuwayne Brooks, who was with Stephen Lawrence when he was killed, has said he will make no comment about the allegations until he has seen the Dispatches programme.
The Metropolitan Police would not confirm or deny the account given by Mr Francis, but admitted "the claims in relation to Stephen Lawrence's family will bring particular upset to them and we share their concerns".
Stephen Lawrence murder
Black teenager Stephen Lawrence, 18, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London in April 1993.
A number of suspects were identified soon after the attack but it took more than eighteen years to bring his killers to justice.
Several attempts to prosecute the suspects, including a private prosecution by the family, failed due to unreliable or insufficient evidence.
In 1997, then Home Secretary Jack Straw ordered a public inquiry into the killing and its aftermath after concerns about the way the police had handled the case.
Sir William Macpherson, a retired High Court judge, led the inquiry. He accused the police of institutional racism and found a number of failings in how they had investigated the murder.
In January 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of Stephen's murder by an Old Bailey jury after a review of the forensic evidence.
An independent investigation into a number of allegations against former undercover police officers, codenamed Operation Herne is under way.
In a statement the Met said: "Any actions by officers working on or with the Special Demonstration Squad need to be understood by Operation Herne in terms of the leadership, supervision, support, training, legal framework, tasking and reporting mechanisms that were in place at the time."
But the force gave the same response to allegations that another undercover officer had helped write the leaflets at the centre of the McLibel trial in the mid 1980s.
The statement said: "At some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth."
Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed as he waited for a bus in April 1993.
More than 18 years later, in January 2012, Dobson and Norris were found guilty of his murder by an Old Bailey jury after a review of the forensic evidence.
In 1999, the Macpherson inquiry into the killing and its aftermath published a report accusing the police of institutional racism.
Dispatches is broadcast on Channel 4 on Monday 24 June at 20:00 BST.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
PM calls for Lawrence 'smear' probe
Dengan url
http://beritaberbagiceria.blogspot.com/2013/06/pm-calls-for-lawrence-smear-probe.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
PM calls for Lawrence 'smear' probe
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
PM calls for Lawrence 'smear' probe
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar