‘Manipulative’ police spy gives evidence at undercover inquiry

A former undercover Metropolitan Police officer who spent years infiltrating a left-wing campaign group in east London has begun giving evidence to the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

Mark Jenner – agent HN15 – was known as Mark Cassidy and had a five-year relationship with activist Alison, not her real name, while he was married with children.

He and Alison lived together, went on holidays and attended family gatherings as a couple.

The inquiry promised to get to the truth about the tactics of undercover policing and the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad. It has previously been reported at least 50 women were duped into intimate relationships with undercover officers over decades.

Alison recently gave evidence at the inquiry about her time with Mr Jenner, as did his ex-wife.

His intimate relationship with Alison did not appear to feature in his official recording of his life undercover to his bosses at Scotland Yard, the inquiry heard.

“There are so many layers of lies,” Alison said. “I think his direct managers knew and covered it up. Or they didn’t know and they are entirely incompetent.”

Alison first met Mr Jenner in 1995 at Hackney’s Colin Roach Centre, named after a young black man who died at Stoke Newington Police Station.

She described the centre as a “peaceful organisation” which supported families in dispute with the Met Police while campaigning with local trade unions and anti-fascist groups.

On Monday, Mr Jenner told the inquiry he thought it had been necessary to have sex with women while undercover, but said sexual gratification was “definitely not” a perk of the job.

When presented with an example of a journey outside of London with Alison, Mr Jenner said he did not know why it had been recorded as a “meeting” and not a true reflection of the event they were attending.

After hearing Mr Jenner’s first day of evidence, Alison said: “If I had any illusions, or romantic memories of him being an anti-fascist, anti-racist, trade union activist, they were demolished today.

“He looked, and sounded, very much like a police officer.”

The inquiry previously heard how Mr Jenner had presented himself to Alison as a joiner from Birkenhead and described himself as an “Anarcho-syndicalist”.

She said he had been “a nice bloke; practical, unselfish and good to have on side”.

Mr Jenner became a “key figure” in the organisation and had a van he was “happy to drive anywhere”, often ferrying activists and supporters home after meetings, including Alison.

The pair started dating and Mr Jenner moved into Alison’s flat in Hackney in February 1996. “We were very compatible,” she said. “I felt very safe with him.”

Alison, who said she came from a “middle class Jewish family”, said Mr Jenner had been warmly welcomed when they attended numerous events together – including weddings and Passover.

“He was considered one of the family,” she said. “I loved him. Our politics were radical but our lifestyle was conventional.”

Alison was never introduced to any of Mr Jenner’s family or friends. He told her his father had died and he was estranged from his mother.

She said: “He told me he had been brought up by his grandmother but she had died.”

Documents revealed at the inquiry showed Mr Jenner requested travel authorisation to follow the Colin Roach Centre activities outside of London.

The trips were in fact holidays with Alison in the UK and abroad and included visits to Israel, Thailand and Amsterdam. Her video camera clips and photographs of their times together were shown at the inquiry.

Alison told the inquiry she had been “very angry, distressed and physiologically disturbed” when she found out Mr Jenner was an undercover police officer.

“His true motivation was about sexual gratification,” she said.

But there had been clues.

In 1997, a couple of years into their relationship, Alison found a bank card belonging to an “M Jenner” and she confronted him.

He told her he had been “stupid” and claimed he “bought it off a man in the pub” and pleaded with her not to tell anyone. She said she believed him and cut it up.

Their relationship came to an abrupt end in March 2000 when Mr Jenner suddenly moved out and left behind a letter.

“He said he had depression,” Alison said. “He said ‘his past had caught up with him’.”

She thought he was referring to past childhood trauma.

In the handwritten letter shown to the inquiry, he wrote: “When I said I loved you I meant it. I’ve never deceived or cheated on you.”

Alison has since met several times with Mr Jenner’s ex-wife, who she described as “an incredible woman with deep integrity”.

The two women said they now understood how Mr Jenner had deceived them both.

“When he told me he was going to work, he was going home,” said Alison. “And when he told her he was going to work, he was coming home with me.”

Mr Jenner’s ex-wife spoke anonymously at the inquiry and said she had had “no support from the police” over what happened.

She told the inquiry the men had “prioritised personal gratification and their careers over the wellbeing of their families” and claimed “the deceit and collusion went high up the chain.”

Following the revelation, Alison has supported other women deceived by undercover officers in the force and believes there could be 50 or so women with similar experiences.

“They used and manipulated women like me,” she said. “They exploited us objectified us – it’s shameful.”

She helped set up a website called Police Spies Out of Our Lives, in which women tell their own stories about their experiences with officers they had relationships with.

In her closing remarks, Alison told the inquiry: “We have, collectively, transformed our pain into organising to expose and evidence this state-sponsored wrongdoing.”

She called for legislative change and added: “The institutionalised sexism, misogyny, and racism in the police – evidenced by these deployments – must be identified, and those who’ve received honours and commendations for their work must have them removed.

“This is what being held to account looks like. The inquiry’s recommendations will be its legacy. I hope our voices will be listened to when these recommendations are drafted.”

Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jon Savell said the force acknowledged “the serious wrongdoing and the totally unacceptable behaviour” by some undercover officers – and the failure by some of their managers.

“Their actions have left a legacy of hurt for some and undermined confidence in a vital policing tactic that continues to keep people safe,” he said.

“I’d like to apologise again unreservedly for the significant harm and distress caused to the women who were deceived into sexual relationships by undercover officers during their deployments. These relationships were abusive, deceitful, manipulative and wrong.

“Undercover policing has undergone significant reform over the decades since this happened. Today it is a practice underpinned by strong governance and oversight, and with clear ethical guidelines and a legislative framework.”

Mr Jenner will testify for four days at the inquiry. Alison said she hoped he and other officers would “dig down into their memories, be honest about their failings, unearth their deeply buried consciences and tell the whole truth”.

“No more excuses,” she said. “No more amnesia. No more covering each other’s backs. No more secrets and lies.”

The inquiry continues.