- Published
Andrew Coles sings in a church choir, is active in local Conservative politics and was once an undercover Metropolitan Police officer – a so-called "spy cop".
asserted
Coles → publish → politics
Jessica – not her real name – is an animal rights activist who says he deceived her into sleeping with him.
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he → say → him
But who is telling the truth?
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who → tell → truth
Coles, 66, lives in a thatched cottage in the Cambridgeshire countryside with his wife and their greyhound.
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Coles → live → wife
But between 1990 and 1995, he served in the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) undercover Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which infiltrated political and protest groups.
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which → serve → groups
For the past decade, its activities have been probed by the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI), external.
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activities → probe → Inquiry
"The MPS has accepted that Andrew Coles had a sexual relationship with Jessica," wrote the force's commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, "and is disappointed he did not tell the truth to the inquiry."
Coles is also accused of appearing to advise colleagues to have similar relationships.
He vehemently denies the claims against him, insisting he is the victim of a deceit.
uncertain
he → accept → deceit
"It's payback, pure and simple," he says.
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he → say → ?
Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Coles lists resilience, bravery and ruthlessness as the qualities needed in a good undercover police officer.
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Coles → speak → officer
"I suppose so," he says.
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he → suppose → ?
"Though I didn't behave very differently to my own personality."
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I → behave → personality
Coles's current life is a far cry from his covert past when, he says, he sometimes had to break the law to gain trust and maintain his cover.
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he → say → cover
"I took drugs – cannabis.
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I → take → drugs
It was necessary – you had to be vouched for," he says.
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he → have → ?
"I was given a lemon squeezy bottle, allegedly full of acid, and squirted it over a butcher's shop window.
uncertain
I → give → window
"I was also involved in a raid on a chicken farm when some chickens were stolen and damage was done to the property.
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damage → involve → property
The SDS had already existed for more than 20 years when Coles, then a constable in the Met, received a tap on the shoulder.
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Coles → exist → shoulder
Taking the name Andy Davey from a dead child, he began making connections with the Animal Liberation Front, an extremist direct-action group.
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he → take → Front
"The work was certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I protected a part of society from some very dangerous people, and I think I did a good job
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I → protect → job
," he says.
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he → say → ?
In 1991, Jessica met Davey for the first time.
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Jessica → meet → time
She was a naïve 19-year-old, she recalls, living in a shared east London terrace and looking for adventure.
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she → recall → adventure
Jessica, now 54, remembers Davey as an awkward older man who drove a van, which endeared him to her close circle of like-minded activists.
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which → remember → activists
"Late in the evenings he would come to the house and we struggled to get rid of him," she says.
"Then one night, without warning, he went to kiss me.
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he → come → me
I didn't have the confidence to get out of the situation and he became my first proper boyfriend.
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he → have → situation
But he was not 24 as Jessica had thought.
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Jessica → think → ?
He was 32, married and had children.
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He → have → children
He was secretly gathering intelligence as part of a criminal inquiry into the ALF after several members were convicted of arson and bombing offences.
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members → gather → arson
"He groomed me," she says.
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she → groom → me
"He would sleep in my single bed several times a week, and I didn't know who he really was.
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he → sleep → bed
It's difficult to describe it as rape, but he knew that having sex with me would have been against my consent."
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having → describe → consent
Coles has admitted sharing Jessica's bed on one occasion but says there was never any sexual contact.
"
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Coles → admit → occasion
Her story is not true, absolutely not true," he insists.
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he → insist → ?
When pressed about the weight of evidence, he concedes: "It is very hard to defeat."
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It → press → evidence
That evidence includes two handwritten letters that Jessica, then staying in France, wrote to her best friend in 1993.
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Jessica → include → 1993
In the first, she writes: "It's really weird, but I'm still going out with Andy."
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I → write → Andy
And in the second: "[Andy] suggested that we see other people because if I decided to stay here for another year... he wouldn't be getting enough sex."
Coles has a theory about the provenance of these letters.
"So, the first could have been written at the time.
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first → suggest → time
The second, what it talks about is absolute nonsense.
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talks → talk → what
I think it was written much later and added to the evidence bundle," he says.
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he → think → bundle
The second one is an elegant, joined-up cursive.
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one → join → ?
…and 60 more, not listed.
The Aporia
