Deep Deception
by Alison, Belinda, Helen Steel, Lisa and Naomi
Ebury, £20

WHEN police spy Mark Kennedy’s cover was blown by political activists in the winter of 2010, the corporate media were quick to follow the official line that he was the one bad apple who had gone rogue and spoiled their otherwise spotless image.

As part of his work he had deceived at least two women into intimate relationships.

Since then it has been proved that more than 20 spycops deliberately cheated at least 50 women into relationships.

They had children with some of the women, robbed others of the chance to do so and wrecked the lives of normal, decent people through their treachery.

All of the spies were part of a secret political policing unit. The Special Demonstration Squad had been established in 1968 to snoop on protesters and was succeeded by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit in 1999.

Its officers infamously stole the identities of dead children to hide their real lives and were issued with fake passports and driving licences.

They took an interest in only a handful of right-wing groups but infiltrated many hundreds of left-wing organisations.

Deep Deception is the harrowing story of five women who were manipulated into long-term relationships by married undercover policemen.

All of their courtships wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Our Tune and it’s gut-wrenching to read their seemingly innocent and intense love stories unfold, knowing, as the Metropolitan Police were eventually forced to admit, that policemen had “preyed on the women’s good nature.”

Police spies violated these women’s lives to try to prevent change, undermine democracy and prop up the interests of the wealthy and powerful in our society.

Psychological and emotional abuse was routine, these women were exploited and “raped for the state.”

One of the women was not even an activist when she met her spy. She wasn’t interested in his supposedly steadfast political beliefs but thought he was merely “a good man who shunned capitalist values.”

While she worried about telling him of her job with the Electricity Board, he consistently lied for a living about his background and lifestyle.

After a prolonged legal battle in which the police obstructed, delayed and created more stress for the women, their case was effectively blocked from going to the High Court.

There were no answers to questions, no disclosure of files and none of those responsible were held to account. Even those men still employed by the police kept their jobs.

An official apology admitting human rights violations was finally made to seven women and a financial settlement was made out of court, but for these women, who made life decisions based on being with someone who didn’t even exist, there can be no compensation for the years first stolen when they were being deceived and then while fighting for justice.  

The only saving graces in this sordid tale are the resilience and determination of the women involved and their support networks.

Without them this disgraceful history would not have been brought to light and there would be no campaign for its full public unmasking.

That such an ultimately depressing and haunting book should be recommended reading is a damning criticism of our society, but it is essential for this information to reach the widest possible audience.

If it was a work of fiction it could be happily described as a page-turner. It’s certainly compelling reading but each page merely adds more horror to a disgusting saga. Unfortunately stuff like this doesn’t only happen in books and their long fight for truth and justice continues.

The public inquiry into undercover policing that was announced in 2015 didn’t start until 2020 and is expected to continue “well beyond 2023.” 

The women believe that these delays are an attempt to stagnate the process until most of the officers involved have retired.

For them, justice delayed remains justice denied.