Andrew Coles, a 66-year-old former Metropolitan Police officer, has denied claims that he 'groomed' a young activist while living a double life as an undercover operative. The allegations, made by a woman identified only as Jessica, were revealed during the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI), which has been investigating the activities of the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) for over a decade.
Claims of Deception and Sexual Relationship
Jessica, who was 19 at the time, reported that Coles deceived her into a sexual relationship, removing her ability to fully consent. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has acknowledged the relationship. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated: 'The MPS has accepted that Andrew Coles had a sexual relationship with Jessica and is disappointed he did not tell the truth to the inquiry.'
Coles, the brother of Reverend Richard Coles, denied any wrongdoing and described the claims as 'payback'. He met Jessica in 1991 while attempting to make connections with the Animal Liberation Front. At the time, he was living under the name Andrew Davey, claiming to be 24 and single. In reality, he was 32, married, and had children.
Jessica's Account and Coles' Denial
Jessica told the BBC that Coles would come to her house late in the evenings, and 'one night, without warning, he went to kiss me'. She said she lacked the 'confidence' to refuse him, and they began dating. She described him as her 'first proper boyfriend'.
'He groomed me,' she said. 'He would sleep in my single bed several times a week, and I didn't know who he really was. It's difficult to describe it as rape, but he knew that having sex with me would have been against my consent.'
Coles denied engaging in any sexual contact with Jessica but admitted to sleeping in her bed on one occasion. He insisted, 'Her story is not true, absolutely not true,' but later conceded that the weight of the evidence was 'hard to defeat'.
Background and Evidence
Coles' undercover work was exposed in his brother's 2014 autobiography. Reverend Richard Coles wrote that his brother 'had joined Special Branch and was undercover, living a double life, infiltrated into some sinister organisation while his wife and baby daughter made do with unpredictable visits.'
In 2018, the UCPI identified Coles as operative HN2, using the alias Davey. Jessica said this revelation brought her 'whole world' to a 'crashing halt'. She stated: 'They created this person, and they deployed him into my life, and my bed. It's a massive violation. It was like being raped by the state.'
During the investigation, three people reported seeing Coles behave intimately with Jessica or emerge from her room in just his boxer shorts. Handwritten notes from 1993 to a friend of Jessica stated she was 'still going out with Andy' and that '[Andy] suggested that we see other people because if I decided to stay here for another year… he wouldn't be getting enough sex.' Coles disputed the legitimacy of the second letter, but a forensic graphologist told the BBC they were likely written around the same time.
Inquiry and Aftermath
Coles left the Met in 2012 and has since worked on Peterborough City Council and as deputy police and crime commissioner for Cambridgeshire. He lost his council seat in 2024 and has twice stood unsuccessfully for re-election. Criminal charges were not brought against him, but in 2017 the Met investigated the allegations and ruled that he would have faced a gross misconduct hearing had he still been in the force.
The UCPI is due to rule on Jessica and Coles' dispute next year, with the entire investigation project reportedly behind schedule and without an end date.
