Undercover officer is Mark Kennedy is 'outraged' by police report

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Friday, February 03, 2012
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Nottingham Post

AN undercover policeman whose actions led to the collapse of a trial of environmental protesters said he was "outraged" by an official report that said he was "resistant to management intervention".

Mark Kennedy, posing as Mark "Flash" Stone, went undercover to infiltrate left-wing protest groups and spent seven years in character, travelling to 11 different countries.

But he ignored orders and carried on working after being arrested, the review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said.

The report said he was "resistant to management intervention", and review and oversight were insufficient.

"He seems to have believed he was best placed to make decisions about how his deployment and the operation should progress," it added.

Speaking on national radio yesterday, Mr Kennedy gave his reaction to the report.

He said: "I found that, well, I was outraged, to be honest.

"I was so closely monitored by my cover officer.

"I had one cover officer who was in contact with me every single day that I was deployed in those seven years.

"There was a whole chain of rank structure all the way up to the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, who signed the authorisations."

Last January the trial of six protesters accused of planning to invade Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, the UK's second largest, collapsed because Mr Kennedy offered to give evidence on their behalf.

A spokesman for Notts Police said they welcomed the report.

They said that following the collapse of the trial, the force's Chief Constable, Julia Hodson, was instrumental in establishing the HMIC review, in order to be assured that the activities of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (which was responsible for the actions of Mark Kennedy) had complied with relevant law and policy.

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  • Profile image for theCLIFTONION

    by theCLIFTONION

    Saturday, February 04 2012, 4:28PM

    “Whatever your views on Kennedy and the way he carried out his role as a Mole inside this bunch of militant tree-huggers, it must not be forgotten what the consequences for everyone would have been if the aforementioned tree-huggers had got their way and actually shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Sation (one of the biggest and cleanest in the land, by the way).

    Such action, if successful, would have caused significant mechanical and electrical damage to Ratcliffe PS ensuring that it would be incapable of generating for months and that we would all be put on a rotating supply of electricity till the shortfall was made up.

    Power Stations can be extremely dangerous places for the unwary. Any attempt by a layman to sabotage equipment carrying a very high voltage or high pressure superheated steam would probably result in his/her instant death as an unfortunate byproduct, resulting perhaps in our first ever eco-martyr. Any eco-jihadis out there?

    I sometimes wonder if any of the supporters of these thugs had actually seen the preparations taken by the authorities and the Power Company to keep them out - 2 miles of double 8-foot high fencing topped with razor wire, all along the station perimeter and the hundreds of police, dogs and helicopters etc in attendance? It cost a packet, which WE are all paying for, one way or another.

    The extent of these preparations must surely make even the most militant tree-hugger realise how well informed the authorities must have been to take such pre-emptive actions so far in advance, to thwart the thugs.

    Where did this information come from? Why, from those insiders, like Kennedy, who were reporting just exactly what plans of destruction were being hatched.

    As a consequence of this attempted break-in at Ratcliffe, a platoon of ex-Ghurka soldiers were recruited to patrol the station perimeter. So, if you're tempted to repeat the break-in, you should be aware of the possible consequences if caught in the act.”

  • Profile image for Marimbaman

    by Marimbaman

    Saturday, February 04 2012, 3:36PM

    “"Last January the trial of six protesters accused of planning to invade Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, the UK's second largest, collapsed because Mr Kennedy offered to give evidence on their behalf." - this is not true.

    The prosecution has a duty to reveal any evidence that may help the defence. After Kennedy was uncovered the defendants realised he must have made a report of what went on, and that would exonerate them. The asked the prosecution for it, but rather than hand it over they dropped the case.

    So it was not Kennedy helping the activists that caused the trial to collapse, it was his work as a police officer. A loyal cop and spy to the end.”

  • Profile image for Marimbaman

    by Marimbaman

    Saturday, February 04 2012, 3:33PM

    “At no stage did he help the activists. Even after the police sacked him, he set up his own private spy firm Black Star High Access, and came back to continue undermining the activists.

    http://tinyurl.com/69d333r

  • Profile image for _Zeus_

    by _Zeus_

    Friday, February 03 2012, 3:15PM

    “First he was a spy so the people he spied upon hate him,

    Secondly he turned into a traitor to his own collegues so they now hate him.

    Why is this idiot suprised?”

  • Profile image for countytilldie

    by countytilldie

    Friday, February 03 2012, 11:46AM

    “why o why is kennedy surprised that his superiors would close ranks and hang him out to dry.”

  • Profile image for globy00l

    by globy00l

    Friday, February 03 2012, 9:41AM

    “What hypocrisy from Kennedy! So the man who used and abused probably hundreds of people in order to spy on them is complaining about how his superiors are now using him to wash their hands of the affair. Considering how willing they were to destroy people's lives for "intelligence" purposes, should it be any surprise that they are now destroying Kennedy's reputation to avoid taking the blame?”

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