Defiant police ‘had sensitive documents shredded’

POLICE OFFICERS shredded documents that may have been relevant to a public inquiry into undercover policing, a watchdog has found.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said members of the Metropolitan Police National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit (NDEDIU) destroyed the material in 2014 after an order not to do so.

It found that a former Met officer would have had a case to answer for gross misconduct if they had still been serving over failure to take action when they were told the documents may have been shredded.

Sarah Green, IOPC regional director, said: “This investigation has uncovered serious failings in the National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit and how it handled materials relevant to the undercover policing inquiry.

“Managers of NDEDIU should have done more to be clear about what material should be retained and ensure they had an auditable process for destroying any material believed to be duplicates or not relevant to the inquiry.

“Our investigation also found that one former officer would have had a case to answer for gross misconduct if still serving, in relation to their failure to take the proper action when the shredding allegation was first reported.”

The IOPC also investigated claims by Baroness Jenny Jones that the unit, which operated between May 2013 and November 2015, had destroyed information relating to her.

It found no evidence to suggest officers had breached standards of professional behaviour or that it deliberately targeted the Green Party member, although “passing references” to her were found in its database.

The Undercover Policing Inquiry was set up by then-home secretary Theresa May in 2014 after it emerged that undercover officers had spied on the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.