Undercover police say sex with activists ‘like sampling drugs’

Officers from the unit duped women into relationships and even had children with them
Officers from the unit duped women into relationships and even had children with them
GETTY IMAGES

A former undercover police officer has defended colleagues who slept with women from political groups they targeted by comparing it to sampling drugs while investigating dealers.

The officer, whose cover name was Peter Fredericks, told the undercover policing inquiry that the officers had no choice but to deceive the women.

The former officer described being recruited as a Metropolitan Police detective in the early 1970s and being put to work for a specialist unit then known as the Special Operations Squad.

The unit later became the Special Demonstrations Squad (SDS). Officers from the unit duped women into relationships and even had children with them. The SDS is one of the focal points of the judge-led public inquiry.

The officer told the inquiry that he had