Morning session begins with summary reading of evidence from undercover officer HN301 about his infiltration of Irish solidarity groups and the International Socialists between 1972-1976, including the Anti-Internment League and Troops Out Movement. Key revelations include Commissioner Sir Robert Mark visiting the SDS safe house, the unit morphing into 'general intelligence gathering', and HN301 describing SDS as 'the executive arm of the security service'. Note: HN298 live testimony portion missing from available transcript.
# Transcribed with OpenAI Whisper (medium model)
# Source: Local audio transcription (no YouTube captions available)
00:20:00 you
00:20:30 HN 301 notes that it would not be surprising to have three officers present at such a prominent event.
00:20:36 Quote, particularly if each of us was involved with AIL in a different area of London.
00:20:43 HN 301 believes that involvement with the AIL was likely incidental to the main groups upon which each officer focused.
00:20:53 HN 301 reported on the West London branch of the Troops Out movement.
00:20:58 Reports on this group begin in late 1973, and the officer notes that this would have been at the beginning of Tom's activity when it was still a relatively small movement.
00:21:09 He affirms that his involvement in the early days of Tom would not have conferred any special responsibilities on him.
00:21:17 He does not remember reporting regularly on Tom and cannot recall if Tom had subversive aims.
00:21:23 He states that, quote, I suspect that a number of their members approved of violence, but I cannot recall Tom deploying violence, criminality or public disorder as a tactic.
00:21:35 As with the AIL, I presume that the SDS interests in Tom arose due to their connection to Irish extremism and the necessity of gathering intelligence about Irish related matters.
00:21:48 The inquiry holds reporting from this officer from May 1972 to May 1976.
00:21:56 The officer is unable to judge the attribution of the reports provided, but accepts that where his name appears on the document, he was likely to be the author.
00:22:08 HN 301 states that he has no clear memory of the full extent of his reporting and therefore cannot comment on whether the documents provided by the inquiry reflect his reporting accurately.
00:22:24 It is clear that there are some gaps in the reporting held by the inquiry for this officer.
00:22:29 The inquiry holds no reports on the IS attributed to this officer for April 1973 and none between April 1973 and April 1974, although the officer believes he would have continued to report on the Hammersmith and Fulham branch of the IS during this time.
00:22:49 There is likewise a gap in reporting between April and September 1974.
00:22:55 The officer also notes that there are no reports relating to information given by telephone, a practice which would have been used to convey more pressing information to the office.
00:23:07 In terms of time spent in his cover identity, HN 301 notes that he was occasionally at his cover flat and more regularly in his cover employment.
00:23:17 He would attend meetings with activists at least once per week and go to a protest or march most weekends.
00:23:25 He would also sell copies of the SWP newspaper on Saturday mornings.
00:23:30 He cannot recall if he received overtime pay or if his take-home pay was any different in the SDS.
00:23:39 HN 301 describes having meetings at the SDS cover flat two to three times per week.
00:23:46 There, they would meet with managers and would hand over diaries and reports.
00:23:50 He recalls there not being any real structure to the meetings, which included general conversations about, quote,
00:23:57 how we were getting on, what we had been up to, who we had interacted with that week.
00:24:05 HN 301 also describes the meetings as an opportunity to socialise with other officers and have, quote,
00:24:12 a general chat about our personal lives.
00:24:14 He notes that these meetings served as an informal way of monitoring the officer's welfare,
00:24:19 which an approach which he felt worked quite well.
00:24:23 There were no formal arrangements for welfare.
00:24:27 When asked about senior officers attending these meetings, HN 301 remembers the Commissioner of Police,
00:24:34 Sir Robert Mark, attending the safe house on one occasion early in his deployment.
00:24:38 HN 301 cannot recall being told how to approach his deployment or what information he should gather.
00:24:44 He was given, in his words, a substantial amount of free rein,
00:24:49 but would have informed his managers of anything significant he was doing while undercover.
00:24:55 He is sure that his superiors would have intervened if they had disapproved of anything.
00:25:00 HN 301 understood that the SDS's function was to gather information about groups and individuals
00:25:05 that posed a threat of public disorder and violence,
00:25:09 but states that the SDS, quote,
00:25:12 gradually morphed into more of a general intelligence gathering unit.
00:25:19 HN 301 states in his words that the SDS, quote,
00:25:22 was a group of officers who had been in the SDS for a long time,
00:25:25 and that they were not aware of the importance of the SDS.
00:25:28 HN 301 states in his witness statement that while he believes some of the reporting
00:25:33 could have been obtained by other means,
00:25:35 much of the information could not have been obtained without direct involvement in the groups concerned,
00:25:41 including the identity of those who regularly attended meetings
00:25:44 and information about planned demonstrations.
00:25:49 HN 301 regularly reported information about individual members of the groups he infiltrated.
00:25:54 He states that he believed that this would have been helpful to build up as full a picture as possible.
00:26:01 He is not sure how the intelligence he gathered was used,
00:26:04 but assumes that relevant parts were filtered to special branch squads and the security service.
00:26:10 He states that the SDS could be described as the, quote,
00:26:15 executive, excuse me, could be described as, quote,
00:26:18 the executive arm of the security service,
00:26:21 and states that quite a lot of intelligence was gathered on their behalf.
00:26:28 He notes, however, that he had no direct contact with the security service during his deployment.
00:26:35 There is no evidence to suggest that HN 301 engaged in any sexual activity in his cover identity.
00:26:41 He states that he did not form any close relationships with activists,
00:26:45 but sometimes would have a pint with them after a meeting.
00:26:48 The officer states that he did not participate in any criminal activity while undercover.
00:26:54 He was never arrested, nor, to his knowledge,
00:26:57 was any of his reporting used in connection with any criminal investigation or prosecution.
00:27:03 He states that he did not become aware of any legally privileged information.
00:27:10 One report from April 1974 notes the possible formation of an I.S. lawyer's office
00:27:17 to give legal advice to members in the event of arrest by the police
00:27:22 and to assist trade unionists, quote,
00:27:25 who clash with the law on pickets, marches, and demonstrations.
00:27:29 HN 301, however, does not believe he was specifically tasked to report from I.S. legal services.
00:27:36 There is evidence of some tangential reporting on trade union activities.
00:27:42 HN 301 states that he did not join a trade union
00:27:45 or become involved in trade union affairs while in the SDS.
00:27:49 He does note that the I.S. would recruit members from the workplace.
00:27:55 There is one report from March 1975
00:27:58 which notes the intention of the I.S. to stand a candidate in the Walsall by-election.
00:28:03 However, there is no other significant reporting on political campaigns.
00:28:08 HN 301 was withdrawn from the field around May 1976.
00:28:13 The officer suggests that his deployment was ended as he had spent five years in the field,
00:28:18 which was typical at the time.
00:28:20 He withdrew by telling his group that he had been offered a job elsewhere
00:28:24 and was moving out of London.
00:28:26 A report from this time notes that Bob Stubbs was now living and working in Portsmouth.
00:28:32 The officer states that his deployment had no long-term effect on his welfare,
00:28:37 but he felt that help would have been offered had he requested it.
00:28:42 HN 301 states that he cannot comment upon the contribution his reporting made to policing
00:28:47 but that he hopes that his five years in the SDS were useful.
00:28:51 HN 301 retired from the police in the late 1990s at the rank of detective.
00:28:56 He was a former police officer who was a member of the Walsall Police Department
00:29:01 at the rank of detective constable.
00:29:04 So that concludes the summary for HN 301.
00:29:07 The inquiry will be publishing the documents related to this officer on the website today.
00:29:13 In addition to this, the inquiry will also be publishing documents related to the officer
00:29:18 nominal HN 303 cover name Peter Collins,
00:29:23 who was unable to give evidence due to poor health.
00:29:26 This officer was deployed in early 1974 to 1977
00:29:33 into the North London branch of the Workers' Revolutionary Party
00:29:37 and later tasked by that group to infiltrate the National Front.
00:29:41 The inquiry's analysis of those documents can be found at page 131 to 137 of appendix 2
00:29:50 to counter to the inquiry's opening statement for trench one, base two.
00:29:55 Thank you, sir.
00:29:59 We're now going to have a 10 minute break while we reassemble to hear eyed evidence.
00:30:04 Mr. Fernandez.
00:30:08 Good morning, everyone.
00:30:09 We will now take a break.
00:30:10 May I remind those in the virtual hearing room to remember to join your breakout rooms, please?
00:30:15 The time is now 10.20 a.m. so we shall reconvene at 10.30 a.m.
03:23:25 Thank you.