Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Spycops inquiry break news of identity theft to family

THE BROTHER and sister of a young man whose identity was stolen by spycops in the 1980s only found out about the theft this year, the undercover policing inquiry revealed today.

Francis Bennett and Honor Robson, who have been designated as core participants in the inquiry, had no idea their brother's identity had been used by the Met’s shadowy Special Demonstration Squad until the inquiry told them on April 27.

Their brother Michael Hartley died in August 1968 aged 18 when he fell overboard a fishing trawler. His identity was then used to infiltrate the Revolutionary Communist Group and Socialist Workers Party between 1982 and 1985.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
David Drever, who died on August 18, was an inspiring teacher, a leader within the Scottish teachers’ trade union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), and a committed Communist.
Features / 6 September 2025
6 September 2025

The EIS president who defended Marxist politics in the 1980s fought Thatcherite educational policies while organising Teachers for Peace rallies and ensuring Morning Star circulation in Scotland’s pit villages and factories, writes JOHN FOSTER

Louise Raw and Louise Regan with the Palestine flag and the other one is of Laura Alvarez (on the left) and Jamila Bolton-Gordon
Activism / 30 June 2025
30 June 2025

BEN CHACKO reports on the struggles against sexism, racism and the brutish British state that featured at Matchwomen’s Festival this year

INTO THE ARCHIVES: (Left) an newspaper clipping about Peach
Features / 25 March 2025
25 March 2025
The murder of an anti-racist protester in 1979 by a special unit of the Met Police was followed by a gruelling battle to win answers about what happened on that tragic day. Now material related to that campaign is available to the public and researchers for the first time at the Bishopsgate Institute. INDIANNA PURCELL reports