Police undercover agents stole identity of dead children

Police undercover agents stole identity of dead children

The Metropolitan Police has secretly issued false passports to the police officers who were working undercover.

The identity of the passports belonged to dead children, and the police  have completed this practice without consulting or informing the children's parents, writes The Guardian .

The newspaper has revealed how British police for over three decades, trawling through lists of names of dead children looking for suitable data to its tire operations.

Hawks were created aliases based on information about the dead children, and was equipped with corresponding Social Security and driver's license. Some of the police officers should have released out to be these people for over ten years.

- Like stepping on the grave

Two police hawks have provided detailed descriptions of how they and others used the identity of the dead children.

An anonymous undercover agent says that he used the identity of "Black Pete" while he was working undercover at an anti-racist group. He says it was "like stepping on the grave" of the four-year old boy.

- A part of me was thinking about how I would feel if someone used the name of my dead son to this, he said to The Guardian .

The other policeman who used the identity of a boy who died in a car accident said he was aware of the parents' certainly was still in mourning over the loss of  their son.

- But I struck me down with the thought that I "borrowed" his identity for a good cause, said the officer who wishes to remain anonymous.

Both officers worked for a secret unit called "Special Demonstration Squad" (SDS), a special unit that infiltrated various groups that were out in the streets to demonstrate. The unit was disbanded in 2008.

A third officer, John Dines, took the identity of an eight year old boy named John Barker, who died of leukemia in 1968.

Dines true identity was revealed by his former girlfriend who spent over 20 years trying to find the truth about the cop thought she was an activist named John Barker.

 Cruel Practise

Keit Vaz, chairman of parliament's Interior Committee, said he was shocked over this "cruel" practice.

- This will be a tremendous burden on families discover what happened to the identity of their dead children. This is absolutely shocking, says Vaz.

The technique of using dead children as aliases has been kept secret for decades, but the author Frederick Forsyth wrote about it in his novel "Day of the Jackal."

The police  have used internally nicknamed "Jackal Run" in the process of searching for suitable identities.

Alerts investigation

- We're not going to confirm or deny people's involvement in specific operations, according to a statement from The Metropolitan Police.

Police confirm however that this type of practice is no longer approved procedure and say they have received a formal complaint which will be investigated by internal investigations directorate (Directorate of Professional Standards). 

The practice of using the identities of dead infants may have ceased in the 90's, when the data was captured. The case is being investigated by police, is about a cop who may have used a dead child's identity in 2003.

One document that The Guardian has seen, shows that around 80 officers used such identities between 1968 and 1994. The total number may be even higher.