Now, morality of the action aside ... the scheme was relying on luck and was open to being exposed at all times.
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The practice was introduced 40 years ago by police to lend credibility to the backstory of covert operatives spying on protesters, and to guard against the possibility that campaigners would discover their true identities.
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During his covert deployment, Dines had a two-year relationship with a female activist before disappearing from her life. In an attempt to track down her disappeared boyfriend, the woman discovered the birth certificate of John Barker and tried to track down his family, unaware that she was actually searching for a dead child.
She said she was relieved that she never managed to find the parents of the dead boy. "It would have been horrendous," she said. "It would have completely freaked them out to have someone asking after a child who died 24 years earlier."
She said she was relieved that she never managed to find the parents of the dead boy. "It would have been horrendous," she said. "It would have completely freaked them out to have someone asking after a child who died 24 years earlier."
Messy ..... and it left me thinking how I would feel if a long dead relatives identity was used in this manner, and what if someone showed at the door asking for them.
I think I'd feel 3 things. The first would be a mix of shock and annoyance at an identity being used in that way at all. The second would be irritation that having used an identity it was used for something as naff as spying on protestors. The final is to wonder, is that the best they could do in providing a new identity? Surely there must be better out there?
Thoughts?
