For seven years, a police officer posed as an environmental activist before switching sides and offering to give evidence for the defence, collapsing a prosecution case. This has brought renewed scrutiny to the world of undercover policing, where officers live double lives for months at a time.
Former undercover officer David Corbett, who wrote a memoir under his assumed name, describes the role as 'the loneliest place in the world'. He would leave his home, wife and family for weeks, transforming into a hardened career drug dealer from Glasgow. His own clothes, photos and CDs were left behind, replaced by a new identity with new hair, jewellery and cars.
Corbett became an undercover officer after a career investigating organised crime in Scotland. He passed three days of psychological testing in London to ensure he could live a lie without losing his mind. His first operation involved buying street drugs from a dealer in Newcastle Upon Tyne, a textbook job that led to an arrest.
He stresses the importance of clear rules: undercover work must focus on gathering specific evidence, with a planned point of exit. He would never act as an agent provocateur, only approach targets with reasonable suspicion, and would follow Home Office guidelines. At the end of an operation, he would debrief with his handler and shed his undercover persona.
'The most important thing was to always remember I was a police officer,' Corbett says. 'Don't allow yourself to get psychologically mixed up in what you are doing.'
