English undercover police were deployed in Scotland

A notorious undercover police officer visited Scotland on at least 17 occasions and carried out "multiple activities" on each visit, a review has found.
The long-awaited report on undercover police was published todayThe long-awaited report on undercover police was published today
The long-awaited report on undercover police was published today

In a report published today, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) said Mark Kennedy, a member of the now defunct National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), was active in Scotland at various times during 2004 and 2010, including at the 2005 G8 Summit.

In 2015, the Metropolitan Police issued an "unreserved apology" to a number of women tricked into relationships by undercover officers, including Kennedy.

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The HMICS said it believed the NPOIU deployed nine undercover officers to Scotland between 2003 and 2010.

The Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) deployed 11 undercover officers between 1997 and 2007, the report said.

The report was published as the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) announced Police Scotland's chief constable, Phil Gormley, had resigned with immediate effect.

Mr Gormley was head of Special Branch at the Met in 2006 – the division which had responsibility for the SDS, however there is no suggestion he had any knowledge of the undercover officers' activities.

The HMICS report said deployments of English undercover officers at the G8 at Gleneagles in 2005 were undertaken with the full knowledge of Tayside Police.

The review was set up in 2016 after then Home Secretary Theresa May refused to extend the Undercover Policing Inquiry to Scotland.

The English inquiry is looking at undercover policing practices dating back to 1968, but the HMICS review dates back only as far as 2000.

Since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, there has been 50 undercover operations carried out by Scottish officers, focussing on drug dealing and child sexual exploitation.

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HM Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Derek Penman said: "I recognise that the use of undercover officers is a legitimate approach in tackling the threats from serious organised crime and terrorism and that the officers who undertake this function voluntarily put themselves forward for the role, often placing themselves in challenging and at times dangerous circumstances.

"We have a duty to those officers by ensuring that undercover policing has the organisational structures, processes and resources to support them and that robust ethical management and oversight of the risks to the public, the impact of collateral intrusion19 and the risks to the individual undercover officers are firmly in place."

Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour's justice spokesman, said: “There remain a number of unanswered questions on the history of undercover policing, specifically on cross-border arrangements.

"Worryingly, this review only rules out infiltration in social justice campaigns since the formation of Police Scotland, not the legacy forces prior to 2013.

"More broadly, the report does not examine the impact on those targeted by undercover policing and their friends and family, which is such a large part of the controversy in England and Wales.

“Scottish Labour welcomes the publication of this report, but the next stage – as we have argued for several years – is an independent inquiry. Until we have that, there will remain unanswered questions, and potential victims cannot access justice.”