Police defend tactics as undercover officer engages PR

SENIOR police officers have defended the use of undercover policing but said those officers had to remain within the law.

The comments from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) come in the wake of controversy surrounding police constable Mark Kennedy, who infiltrated a group of environmental activists over a seven-year period.

The former Met officer monitored the actions of protesters across Europe in the guise of a climber called Mark Stone.

The case against six demonstrators accused of conspiring to shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire collapsed on Monday after prosecutors dropped the case.

Their legal team claimed the decision was made after the undercover officer had a crisis of conscience and offered to give evidence on their behalf.

Independent officials were starting an investigation yesterday into whether police tried to cover up Kennedy's role amid claims that the trial collapsed when the Crown Prosecution Service discovered Nottinghamshire Police had withheld secret tapes of meetings.

The developments have sparked a wider debate on police tactics to monitor political and environmental groups operating on the fringe of legality.

A spokeswoman for Acpo said it could not comment on the case specifically but said it did not want to lose sight of the importance of undercover work.

She said: "The police service cannot operate effectively to prevent and detect crime unless it uses intelligence. It is one of the most challenging operational activities undertaken by the police.

"The police service has an absolute commitment that the gathering and use of intelligence must be necessary, proportionate and lawful.

"Police officers are subject to the law and where they break the law in the course of their activities it will and must be investigated."

Kennedy, who is now said to be out of work and in hiding, has called in public relations guru Max Clifford as he prepares to tell his story.A spokeswoman yesterday confirmed Clifford was representing Kennedy and said they would be "looking at the best possible options and the way forward for Mark".

The Independent Police Complaints Commission review comes after Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Julia Hodson said there would be an internal review into the secret operation. A force spokesman said: "The force has requested the investigation reviews all the elements of policing relating to this case, to establish whether they were carried out in an ethical and proportionate manner."