Tranche 1 Phase 2

This was the second set of evidential hearings in the Undercover Policing Inquiry and took place through April to May 2021. The hearings looked at the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), from 1972 to 1982, an era in which many of the issues being investigated (relationships, theft of dead children’s identities, miscarriages of justice) emerged.

Prior to the hearing, a Directions Hearing was held in January 2021 to address a number of issues which had emerged from the Phase 1 hearings (see Procedural Hearing 14).

The evidential hearings began with brief opening statements, followed by the live testimony of both former undercovers and non-state witnesses.

As with the previous hearings, they were held at the Amba Hotel (now Thistle Marble Arch Hotel) in central London. Due to restriction orders over the real identities of former SDS undercover officers, their evidence was broadcast only via a rolling transcript, whereas most non-police witnesses chose to give full public information – the exception being ‘Madeleine’, who has restriction order over her identity.

The hearings began with brief opening statements, principally on behalf of the officers and non-state core participants (NSCPs) providing evidence in this phase, or those who had a particular interest in the evidence to be presented.