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UK prosecutors evaluate charges for 12 former undercover police officers

The Crown Prosecution Service is reviewing evidence of potential misconduct in public office tied to long-running political surveillance operations.

Updated Aug 30, 2026 · 12:19 UTC1 reports

The short version

  • The Crown Prosecution Service is reviewing an evidence file to decide whether to charge 12 former undercover officers with misconduct in public office.
  • The review stems from Operation Montrose, an investigation into Mark Kennedy and others who infiltrated left-wing and environmental groups.
  • If charges are brought, it will mark the first criminal prosecution of officers involved in Britain's decades-long undercover political spying scandal for unauthorized wrongdoing.
  • The CPS has not yet announced whether it will formally authorize charges against any of the individuals.

Key facts

  • The Crown Prosecution Service received an evidence file from the National Police Chiefs' Council concerning 12 former police officers to consider misconduct in public office charges.[The Guardian]
  • The underlying police investigation, Operation Montrose, was launched in 2015 to examine the conduct of undercover officer Mark Kennedy and others.[The Guardian]
  • Mark Kennedy spent six years infiltrating environmental and left-wing groups under the National Public Order Intelligence Unit between 2003 and 2009.[The Guardian]
  • Between 1968 and at least 2010, 139 undercover officers spied on tens of thousands of predominantly left-wing activists.[The Guardian]
  • In 2021, a tribunal ruled that police grossly violated the human rights of campaigner Kate Wilson, who was deceived into a two-year relationship by Kennedy.[The Guardian]

What remains uncertain

  • The specific nature of the alleged wrongdoing by the 11 officers named alongside Mark Kennedy has not been made public.[The Guardian]
  • It remains unknown whether the Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately authorize criminal charges against any of the 12 officers.[The Guardian]

Sources