THE police watchdog is to investigate claims that one of Britain’s most senior policemen got information from an undercover officer who spied on the Stephen Lawrence family.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said yesterday it is probing claims that Metropolitan Police commander Richard Walton met an undercover officer in 1998 and “obtained information pertaining to the Lawrence family and their supporters, potentially undermining the inquiry and public confidence.”

He was temporarily removed from his job as head of the counter-terrorism command SO15 in March following the publication of Mark Ellison QC’s report into the original Lawrence murder investigation.