Prosecutors consider charges against officers involved in spycops scandal

Prosecutors are examining whether to bring criminal charges against 12 former police officers who were involved in spying on political groups.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is examining a file of evidence that the officers may have committed wrongdoing while working in controversial undercover operations.

It follows a police investigation into Mark Kennedy, an undercover officer who infiltrated environmental and leftwing groups for six years.

Kennedy is a key figure in the spycops scandal. He deceived a number of women into intimate relationships while concealing from them that he was a police spy. The total number is unknown, but is believed to be in double figures.

Kennedy was one of 139 undercover officers who spied on tens of thousands of mainly leftwing activists over more than four decades.