Undercover police officers who spied on political activists, had relationships and secret families with them are to be the subject of a new ITV documentary series.
For more than 40 years a secret unit of undercover police were paid to spy on ordinary members of the public.
More than 60 women were deceived into intimate long term relationships with police officers who were deployed in secret operations – five of them collaborated with documentary makers to tell their story.
The women said: ““We’ve been working together to expose this policing scandal since we first met in 2011. Our lives were devastated by the actions of undercover police and this powerful documentary highlights how we fought back against dehumanising spycops intrusion and abuse, which was sanctioned by the state for decades to undermine progressive campaigns for change.
“By shining a light on the role of these undemocratic, secret, political policing units, we hope the series is part of a dramatic shift away from the culture of misogyny that the police and security services have normalised and puts pressure on decision makers to reverse the
current legislation that places undercover officers completely beyond the law.”
The Skycops Scandal has been the subject of an £88m public inquiry – but ITV producers believe the television documentary will shine new light on the story of women who were deceived and abandoned by men they thought they loved.They reveal how they discovered police officers stole the identities of deceased children to create new aliases and even fathered children with the women they spied upon whilst
undercover.
The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed, which will air in early 2025 and has been made by All3media production company RAW. Producers hope it will shed new light on the story.
Rebecca North, Executive Producer at RAW, said: “This is an inspirational, empowering story about women who refused to go away quietly, instead using their ingenuity and tenacity to expose the lies they’d been told by the men they loved, leading to a David vs Goliath
battle with the Metropolitan Police. We hope it brings awareness to the scandal.”
Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual ITV, said: “When I first learnt about this story, I was determined it needed to be made for a TV audience – and made for ITV. That these five women finally agreed to give ITV and RAW up close and personal access is testament to
their courage and resilience. They have been up against a state sponsored operation and with many of them turning detective, such a twist in the story could be the stuff of a thriller -except this is all too shockingly true. It’s a British scandal of real significance.”
