Police spy stood trial under false name
By Ruth Mckee
The revelation that an undercover police officer stood trial under his alias identity has set back the publication of a major report into the police's use of spies against activist groups.
Detective Constable Jim Boyling was working for the Met police when he infiltrated the Reclaim the Streets protest movement. He was then arrested along with other activists at a
emonstration in August 1996.
It is then alleged he stood trial and attended sensitive legal meetings under his spy name 'Jim Sutton'.
The fresh revelations, which call into question officers' behaviour as undercover agents, surfaced as part of a joint BBC Newsnight and Guardian newspaper investigation.
"In light of the [latest] allegations in the media, we are delaying the launch of our report," said HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, the watchdog responsible for the report.
"This is so we can consider the relevance of this information to the recommendations for improvement in undercover policing tactics that we are making in our review."
The watchdog's investigation was prompted by revelations that Mark Kennedy, an undercover police officer had 'gone native' and jeopardised a criminal trial when he offered to
help the defendants, a group of six men charged with trying to shut down a power station in 2009.
