Deceiving women into sexual relations ‘part of work’ for spycops, inquiry told

Met police headquarters. The inquiry is examining the conduct of more than 139 undercover officers who spied on tens of thousands of activists between 1968 and 2010. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Senior managers running a covert unit permitted undercover police officers to deceive women into sexual relations, the spycops public inquiry has heard.

Peter Francis, a former undercover officer who has become a whistleblower, said the sexual relations were a routine feature of the covert operations for years. He said they were “an ordinary part of the undercover role … it was regarded by officers and management alike as part of the work”.