UK: Deputy police and crime commissioner resigns following spycop reports
15 May 2017
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UK
Deputy police and crime commissioner resigns following spycop reports
15.5.17
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A deputy police and crime commissioner has resigned following reports that he worked as an undercover police officer in the early 1990s, infilitrating political groups and deceiving a 19-year-old woman into a sexual relationship.
Statement from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, link):
"Statement from Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Andy Coles
There have been news reports over the weekend about which I am unable to comment.
This coverage is significantly impacting on my ability to carry out my duties as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.
I have therefore today tendered my resignation with immediate effect, which Police and Crime Commissioner, Jason Ablewhite has accepted."
See: Cambridgeshire deputy police commissioner facing calls to resign over spy allegations(The Guardian, link):
"A deputy police and crime commissioner is facing calls to resign from his post after his hidden past as an undercover spy infiltrating political groups was revealed.
Andy Coles, the deputy police and crime commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, has been accused of deceiving a 19-year-old political activist into forming a sexual relationship while he was an undercover police officer in the 1990s.
The woman is taking legal action against the police, alleging that Coles groomed and manipulated her.
His past as an undercover police officer began to unravel following an apparent indiscretion by his younger brother, the broadcaster and former pop star the Reverend Richard Coles."
And see: Jessica’s Statement(Police Spies Out of Lives, link):
"Jessica has written this courageous statement as part of going public about recently finding out that she had a relationship with Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner Andy Coles, when she was 19, and he was an undercover police officer. She knew him as ‘Andy Davey’, a fellow activist. She wrote this statement in April 2017, but it is being published on 12th May 2017, to coincide with her story going live in the press. These are entirely her own words."
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