Undercover officer admits inquiry statement omitted relationship
A former undercover police officer has admitted to a public inquiry that he failed to disclose a relationship with a woman during his deployment under the false name Dave Evans. He had previously said he had no sexual relationships while undercover, but accepted that his earlier statement was not completely truthful.
A former undercover police officer has admitted that he failed to disclose a relationship during his deployment under the false identity Dave Evans. Evans had initially told the undercover-policing inquiry that he had not had any sexual relationships while working undercover. Under questioning this week, he acknowledged a relationship with a woman known as Olivia that lasted at least six months and may have continued for up to two years.
He accepted that his first statement was “not completely truthful with hindsight”. He said he had not considered the relationship relevant because Olivia was not an activist or member of a targeted group. The inquiry heard that Evans met Olivia in 1998 while attending a college course in his assumed identity as a landscape gardener.
He never told her that he was a police officer. The pair attended social events involving animal-rights campaigners and at least one demonstration, the inquiry heard. Olivia is not giving evidence.
Evans was one of about 139 officers who infiltrated mainly left-wing and animal-rights groups over more than four decades. The inquiry is examining sexual relationships formed by undercover officers who concealed their identities. Victims have opposed any move to shorten the inquiry, which has been running for more than a decade.
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