Spy work

 

Ex-wives of undercover police tell of marriages ‘based on lies’

The former wives of undercover police officers have told a public inquiry about the “shattering” discovery that their marriages were “imbued with deceit” as a result of their husbands’ covert deployments.

A statement was made to the inquiry on behalf of three women who believed they were making personal sacrifices so their husbands could go undercover to infiltrate political groups during long-term deployments.

Years later, they discovered their marriages had been “based on lies” and that their husbands had had sexual relationships with other women during their deployments.

The deployments caused their marriages to break down, the inquiry heard.

The women outlined their experiences in an opening statement read out at the judge-led inquiry, which is looking at how 139 undercover officers spied on more than 1,000 political groups over more than four decades.

The former wives said some of their children were conceived or born during the deployments, adding that they were “mothers of children born into relationships imbued with deceit”.