Justice Campaigns (Categories J and G)

Political groups had often run defence campaigns on behalf of members arrested on protests. However, the 1980s brought growing numbers of campaigns on behalf of people mistreated by the police.They included campaigns over deaths in police custody and to expose how police racism impacted investigations into racist attacks and murders. 

These campaigns were set up by family and friends of the victims and attracted the support of various left-wing groups that increasingly focused on police brutality and accountability. Undercover police targeted these groups, which were also reported on by Special Branch. It is clear from the reporting that these campaigns attracted specific interest from Special Branch and the SDS.

Peter Francis’ revelations that police were reporting on the families of Stephen Lawrence and Duwayne Brooks OBE at the time of the Macpherson Inquiry in 1999 provoked outrage; this was a pivotal moment. The Stephen Lawrence Independent Review of Mark Ellison KC showed these concerns were justified. That review prompted the then Home Secretary Theresa May to announce the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

These revelations made police spying on Stephen Lawrence’s family justice campaign a core topic for the UCPI to explore. They have been given their own category - G. Francis also revealed that other campaigns had also been targeted, and it became clear in the UCPI that multiple other campaigns were subject to SDS reporting. A number of prominent family justice of campaigns and people associated with them have been made core participants and designated Category J in the Inquiry: [[Table]]

Category G, the Stephen Lawrence family justice campaign, includes:

• Baroness Doreen Lawrence
• Neville Lawrence OBE
• Duwayne Brooks OBE
• Michael Mansfield KC

The Inquiry is asking former SDS officers to justify their targeting of these groups, a core subject for the Inquiry to investigate.