Closing Statement on behalf of Non-Police, Non-State Core Participants in the Undercover Policing Inquiry published today

22 February 2023

Lily Lewis from our Inquests and Public Inquiries team is instructed in the Undercover Policing Inquiry on behalf of the Non-Police, Non-State Core Participants (NPSCPs) by Lydia Dagostino of Kellys Solicitors. Lily is led by Kirsten Heaven of Garden Court Chambers.

The submissions invite the Inquiry to find that the Metropolitan Police, through the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), established undercover policing practices in the Tranche 1 era (1968 to 1982) that were unlawful, unjustified, and anti-democratic. These practices went unchallenged for over forty years.

“The facts under investigation by this Public Inquiry are a national scandal. The devastation caused by what occurred during the T1 era (and beyond) must not be underestimated. Lives have been destroyed, identities have been stolen, individuals have faced a lifetime of unemployment and poverty, those seeking justice, including against the actions of the state, have been undermined and the legal system has been damaged. There have undoubtedly been numerous miscarriages of justice. Public trust in policing has been broken. The damage continues; thousands of individuals have had their most private activities reported on and their data stolen by the state.”

Read the full statement here.

Watch the UCPI closing statements including Kirsten Heaven who gave an oral closing submission on behalf of the NPSCPs.