Father of Stephen Lawrence calls for judge-led inquiry into police
ByThe Courier Reporter
The father of murdered black student Stephen Lawrence has called for a judge-led inquiry into claims undercover police officers were told to spy on his family and other campaigners for justice over his death, in the hope of finding information to smear them
Neville Lawrence dismissed as “completely unsatisfactory” home secretary Theresa May’s announcement that she would extend two ongoing inquiries into alleged police wrongdoing to cover the allegations made by former undercover officer Peter Francis.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said he was “personally shocked” by Mr Francis’s claim that, while infiltrating an anti-racist group in the 1990s, he was put under “huge and constant pressure” from superiors to “hunt for disinformation” to undermine those demanding a better investigation.
Mr Francis also said he was told to withhold information about his activities from the Macpherson Inquiry into the Met’s handling of the murder probe.
“If these allegations are true, it’s a disgrace, and the Metropolitan Police Service will apologise,” said Sir Bernard. “Smearing the family of a murder victim would never be acceptable to me or my officers.”
Father of Stephen Lawrence calls for judge-led inquiry into police