Below is an excerpt from a profile of HN16 which was last updated in 2018. The full profile can be found here: https://powerbase.info/index.php/James_Straven_(alias) The profile will be updated after The Inquiry hears evidence regarding HN16's deployment.
In September 2018, the Inquiry revealed that the undercover officer known as HN16 had been using two identities 'James Straven' and 'Kevin Crossland'. He was said to be deployed into the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Brixton and Croydon Hunt Saboteurs between 1997 and 2002. He deceived two women into intimate relationships while being deployed.
Straven was an undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), and he now is a core participant in the Undercover Policing Inquiry. On 8 December 2017, the Inquiry Chair, John Mitting, granted HN16 anonymity in his real name.
Because James had been in sexual relationships, with 'Ellie' and 'Sara', Mitting revoked his decision to restrict his real name in October 2018, only publishing it in February 2019.