Judge in undercover policing inquiry rejects blanket anonymity
The senior judge leading a public inquiry into the covert police infiltration of political groups has decided that undercover officers will not be given blanket anonymity during the hearings.
The Public Accounts Committee's report on the Criminal Justice system describes it as "bedevilled by long standing poor performance including delays and inefficiencies, and costs are being shunted from one part of the system to another".
Four people have today (Friday, 18 March) been arrested by Surrey Police as part of an investigation into an allegation of potential fraudulent activity. This morning two men in their fifties and two men in their forties were arrested on suspicion of fraud under Section Four of the Fraud Act and conspiracy to defraud. All four men remain in police custody while enquiries continue.
Next week the police are to argue that large parts of the public inquiry into the conduct of their undercover spies should be held in secret.
The public inquiry, headed by, Lord Justice Pitchfork, is due to scrutinise the activities of undercover officers who have infiltrated hundreds of political groups since 1968.
