Criminal charges considered over 'spycops' scandal

The Guardian Mark Kennedy is wearing earrings and has sunglasses resting above his forehead
The Guardian
Mark Kennedy posed as a climate activist under the alias Mark Stone

An undercover policeman who infiltrated a Nottingham-based climate protest group could face prosecution.

Mark Kennedy formed intimate relationships with a number of women over several years while he posed as an activist under the alias Mark Stone.

His unmasking in 2010 eventually led to a wider undercover policing scandal and an ongoing public inquiry.

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has confirmed that evidence relating to Kennedy and 11 other officers has now been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The former Metropolitan officer spent six years undercover before he was arrested in a police raid in Nottingham in 2009.

Kennedy was among 114 people held on suspicion of plotting to shut down the coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire.

A year later, Kennedy was confronted by members of the group and admitted he had been living a double life.

The power station trial collapsed after it emerged that prosecutors had failed to disclose his involvement.

Kennedy is wearing a green hoodie and a black jacket and woolly hat
Mark Kennedy spoke to the BBC after his real identity emerged

The legal fallout of Kennedy's unmasking triggered a review of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit that was published in 2012.

Three years later, the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, announced a judge-led public inquiry into undercover policing which has been running for several years.

Now the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has confirmed that evidence relating to Mark Kennedy and 11 other former officers has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The NPCC confirmed the file submitted includes evidence from an investigation into whether Kennedy had inappropriate sexual relationships while he was undercover.

Listen to BBC Radio Nottingham on Sounds and follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.