"Undercover officers secretly monitored a community organisation that sought to expose wrongdoing and corruption in the Metropolitan police, the spycops public inquiry has heard. Previously secret reports show that the Hackney Community Defence Association (HCDA) in east London and its key organiser were monitored by police spies for a decade. The HCDA helped victims of police violence to successfully take legal action against the Met as a way of holding them to account."
"The surveillance reports contained personal information about Graham Smith, who founded and ran the HCDA, including his marriage and his father's terminal cancer. The judge-led inquiry is looking at the conduct of undercover police officers who spied on thousands of predominantly leftwing campaigners between 1968 and at least 2010. It was established after revelations of misconduct. It heard that undercover officers compiled 44 reports which had details of the activities of the HCDA and Smith between 1988 and 1998."
Undercover officers monitored the Hackney Community Defence Association (HCDA) and its founder Graham Smith between 1988 and 1998, producing 44 reports. The reports included personal details about Smith, such as his marriage and his father's terminal cancer. The HCDA supported victims of police violence to bring successful legal actions against the Metropolitan Police and helped expose alleged corruption at Stoke Newington station, including claims of drugs planting, drug dealing, theft and other crimes. A judge-led public inquiry is examining the conduct of undercover officers who spied on predominantly leftwing campaigners from 1968 to at least 2010. The Met conceded that directing spies against HCDA was wrong.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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