Lambert disappeared without a trace having been withdrawn from his deployment, when their son was two years old
By Jag Bahra DtRtP
Last night saw the unexpected announcement that one of the victims in the ongoing #spycops litigation had accepted an out of court settlement from the Metropolitan Police for just over £400,000. The victim, known only as Jacqui, was deceived into a long-term sexual relationship with SDS officer Bob Lambert and had a child with him. Lambert disappeared without a trace having been withdrawn from his deployment, when their son was two years old. He went on to receive the MBE for services to policing and currently enjoys a successful career in academia.
The Met have offered an apology of sorts but this is clearly unsatisfactory to Jacqui and the other seven victims whose legal claims continue. Police have had the audacity to assert that they have “dealt with this lengthy case with professionalism and sensitivity, completely understanding the gravity of the circumstances.” In reality of course they have insisted that half the claim be heard in secret; attempted to have the other half struck out completely; refused to even acknowledge Lambert’s involvement and only did so when ordered to by the court after a further legal challenge by the victims. Senior officers still refuse to outlaw or explicitly condemn the use of sexual relationships as a tactic in undercover operations and the offer of settlement will prevent embarrassing disclosures in open court.
Jacqui has stated: “The legal case is finished but there is no closure for me. There is the money, but there is no admission by the police that what they did was wrong, there is no meaningful apology and most importantly there are no answers.”
This is of course just the tip of the iceberg. The SDS deployed more than 100 undercover officers, and so far only 10 of those have been outed. Though the SDS has now been disbanded, undercover officers are still deployed by the NPOIU - there are therefore serious questions around not just the injustices that occurred in decades gone by but their continued operations today.
Jacqui’s lawyer Jules Carey will be speaking at DtRtP’s conference
Jacqui’s Lawyer Jules Carey of Bindmans, Helen Steel, one of the victims involved in the ongoing case, Rob Evans who co-authorerd the book “Undercover –The True Story of Britains Secret Police” and Merrick Badger who is part of the campaign Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance, will be speaking about #spycops at DtRtPs upcoming annual conference: We Do Not Consent on Sunday 16th November.
You can register a place on-line and find out more about the conference here.
Further reading:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/23/police-compensation-payout-woman-undercover-officer
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