An undercover police officer who infiltrated leftwing and animal rights campaign groups has admitted to the spycops inquiry that he had a sexual relationship lasting at least six months while working under a fake name. The officer, who used the alias Dave Evans, had previously testified that he did not have any relationships while using his fake identity.
Under questioning this week, Evans was forced to admit that he did have a relationship with a woman that lasted at least six months. He said it was “possible” that it could have continued for two years, but could not recall exactly how long. The admission came after campaigners drew evidence of the relationship to the attention of the inquiry.
False testimony and admission
In his first statement to the inquiry, signed four years ago, Evans wrote: “I did not engage in any sexual activity whilst in my undercover identity.” However, in a second statement signed this year, he admitted that “with the benefit of hindsight”, he should have disclosed that he had a relationship with a woman known as Olivia. When asked by Don Ramble, a barrister at the inquiry, if he had lied in his first statement, Evans replied: “I accept that it was not completely truthful with hindsight.”
Evans said he had not originally disclosed the relationship because “she was not an activist nor part of any target group, I did not feel this was relevant”. The evidence about his relationship with Olivia was mainly supplied by Helen Steel, a social justice campaigner and defendant in the McLibel case.
Wider context of the inquiry
A central issue of the inquiry is how undercover officers frequently had sexual relations with women without disclosing their true identities. Four of the spies fathered, or are alleged to have fathered, children with women they met while working undercover. Evans was one of about 139 undercover officers who spied on tens of thousands of mainly leftwing activists over more than four decades. He infiltrated the Socialist Workers party and animal rights groups including London Animal Action between 1998 and 2005.
During his covert deployment, Evans pretended to be a landscape gardener. He met Olivia in 1998 while attending a college course in his fake identity and never revealed that he was a police officer. The inquiry heard that they attended social events with animal rights campaigners and at least one demonstration. Olivia is not giving evidence to the inquiry.
Impact and next steps
The spycops inquiry has been scrutinising wrongdoing by undercover officers. The government is considering whether the remaining stages of the inquiry, which has been running for more than a decade, should continue in a different format. Victims of the surveillance say any move to cut short the inquiry would result in a cover-up.
