Dónal O’Driscoll and Eveline Lubbers, Undercover Research Group, 18 February 2018

Today we present the profile of ‘Christine Green’, a female undercover police officer who served with the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS). From early 1995 to late 1999 /early 2000 she was active in hunt sabbing, London Animal Action and national grassroots campaigns. Around the time her deployment ended, she started a relationship with a well-known animal rights activist; they are still together.

Also see:

• • Rob Evans and Severin Carrell, Met police spy has long-term relationship with activist after quitting covert role, The Guardian, 18 February 2018.
  • Profile of Christine Green
  • Undercover Policing Inquiry confirmed ‘Christine Green’ was indeed  #spycop HN26, 20 Feb 2018
  • Apology to Hampshire Constabulary re actions of undercover unit, 20 February 2018
  • More detail about ‘Christine Green’ releasing 6000 minks as a #spycop: Rob Evans, Met admits police spy’s role in mass release of mink by protesters, The Guardian, 20 February 2018

Christine Green is one of the few female officers that we know of, and her time undercover fits the now well-established patterns and tradecraft that most of the spycops followed. A timeline of known undercovers in the London animal rights movement shows that she was one in a series of SDS officers infiltrating such groups in south and west London.

Graphic by Peter Salmon / URG – Click to see the full timeline.

The earliest such undercover is Mike Chitty, who as Mike Blake lived in Balham and targeted people in Streatham 1983-1987. In November 1991, Andy Coles appeared as Andy ‘Van’ Davey in Streatham, where he targeted Brixton Hunt Sabs and forerunners of London Animal Action. He was there until February 1995. The dates of Christine’s arrival and Coles’ exit indicate that their deployments overlapped for a brief period.

We think that Christine was Andy Coles’ successor, both geographically and in targeting a number of the same groups and campaigns such as Brixton Hunt Sabs and London Animal Action.

Like Andy, Christine struggled to be fully accepted locally, but she did have greater success in the wider London group. In this wider scene, she partly overlapped in time with Matt Rayner, who was infiltrating the north London animal rights scene. Both were active in anti-fur campaigns and with the West London hunt sab group. We have learned that Christine and Matt knew each other in the animal rights movement, and there is a good chance they have been at the same meetings and protests. Matt Rayner remained active until November 1996, when he disappeared – allegedly to France.

It is highly likely that both Matt Rayner and Andy Coles have helped to prepare Christine for her undercover role. All three officers would have provided information to Special Branch’s Animal Rights National Index, which in 1999 was restructured to become the national ‘spycops’ unit, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

Apart from that, Christine served in the same period that fellow undercovers, such as N81, were focusing on family justice campaigns, including the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Tradecraft

All three of them fitted the framework of the spycops’ tradecraft. They all had a van providing transport to demonstrations and actions, sometimes transporting rescued animals as well. All took on administrative tasks, such as in doing the finances, the mailing lists and editing or distribution of magazines – which gave them access to the post, addresses and contact details, the printers, bank accounts and keys to meeting spaces. Being helpful and willing to make themselves available, they managed to get in the thick of things.

Exposure

In 2013, Paul Gravett recognised that Christine fitted the pattern of several other SDS undercovers he had known – Bob Lambert, Matt Rayner and Andy Coles. He began circulating his suspicions in October that year and her cover name was subsequently published online in February 2014.

Following the exposure of Andy “Van” Davey as an undercover in May 2017, we turned our attention to Christine. Evidence confirming that she had been a serving police officer at the time of her deployment has been discovered. Following this, The Guardian and the Undercover Research Group are able to go live with the fact today, 14 February 2018.

As far as is known, Christine is not a core participant in the Undercover Policing Inquiry, though some believe she may be the undercover currently referred to by the cipher HN26 (see the N officers page for full explanation of this cipher system).