Met spy admits relationship was 'open secret'

A former Met Police undercover officer has admitted his behaviour while spying on left-wing activists in London in the mid 1990s was "cruel" and "accepted" by his superiors.

Mark Jenner, whose cover name was Mark Cassidy, worked in a covert unit called the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which is now being reviewed as part of the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UPCI).

While working for the SDS, Mr Jenner had a five-year sexual relationship with a school teacher known as Alison who he was monitoring, despite being married with children.

He moved into her flat, went on holiday with her, and attended multiple family gatherings because he said it "helped his cover", the inquiry heard.

Mr Jenner - like many SDS officers - was recruited because he was married and a "family man".

He told the inquiry that in 1995, he had been deployed to infiltrate the Colin Roach Centre in Hackney, east London, which was formed by a local trades union.

It was here that he met Alison, who also attended meetings at the centre. He soon moved into her flat, he said.

He enjoyed holidays to places such as Thailand and Amsterdam with her, paid for using money from the bank account he shared with his wife. He also visited homes of Alison's family and friends.

She had no idea he was a police officer.

His wife, known as S, previously told the inquiry she agreed to his undercover work, but had no idea about his sexual relationship with another woman as he returned home five days a week.

The inquiry heard how she was led to believe he was "infiltrating terrorists", and how she felt she should support his work.

Responding, Mr Jenner told the inquiry: "I thought financially we'd be secure and it would be a better future.

"It was a hell of a strain and on my mind all the time," he said, adding: "I tried to blank it out."

"The thought of deceiving her [his wife] above everybody else was an absolute abhorrence," he said.

He told the inquiry he loved his wife but was a largely "absent father", admitting "personal gratification and a police career took precedence".

When asked why he continued to live with Alison for so many years, he told the inquiry it helped him "maintain his cover" and that it boosted his credibility among the people who he was spying on.

Mr Jenner said his fellow SDS officers and superiors knew he was "cohabiting" with Alison and their relationship had become an "open secret".

His boss, DCI Bob Lambert, also had relationships with women while undercover, including one whereby he fathered a child.

In a 1996 annual performance review shown to the inquiry, DCI Lambert described Mr Jenner as a "phlegmatic officer who remains calm in the face of danger", operating in a "dangerous and hostile environment".

A Special Branch document shown to the inquiry showed Mr Jenner received a commendation for his work on 15 September 2000.

It said: "All SDS officers and their families undergo considerable upheaval during the course of their tours of duty, DC Jenner was no exception.

"On many occasions his work interfered with his leave period but he accepted without question the exigencies of his work and the need to give that priority over domestic arrangements."

After his deception was exposed in the media in 2011, he underwent an internal interview at Scotland Yard but, he told the inquiry, he had lied to those assessors and denied all the allegations.

"I was trying to hold out for as long as possible," he said.

He was interviewed again in 2013 where he said: "My actions when working undercover for SDS were with the knowledge and approval of my line managers. Whatever I did within the SDS was professional."

But he told the inquiry: "You could do pretty much do what you want apart from kill anybody, it would be covered.

"We were supported by secrecy and the management and the whole structure around SDS."

It is thought there are at least 50 women who were also deceived by undercover officers from the SDS over decades.

After hearing his evidence, Alison, who now helps run a support group helping those affected, told BBC News that she was "very pleased" that he admitted our relationship was an open secret within the SDS and that many of his managers and colleagues knew.

"So much of what Mark Jenner said was very shocking," she said.

"Particularly the explanation that his relationship with me was necessary for his cover."

The force has apologised "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," it said, adding that undercover policing had undergone "significant reform" since with "clear ethical guidelines and legislative framework".

The UPCI is a public inquiry looking into serious allegations of systematic abuses by undercover policing units over a 40-year period.

It resumes in the new year.

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