Judge in undercover police inquiry has motor neurone disease

The senior judge leading the public inquiry into the undercover infiltration of political groups by the police has announced that he has motor neurone disease.

Lord Justice Pitchford said on Monday he had been diagnosed with the the condition in November, adding that its physical symptoms were becoming apparent.

In his announcement, he said that while he would not be able to complete the inquiry, he was keen to continue for as long as possible.

Another judge will take over from Pitchford when he steps down. He added that the work of the inquiry continued unabated.

Pitchford was appointed in 2015 by the then home secretary Theresa May, with the expectation that the inquiry would be completed within three years.

However, the judge said last week it was unlikely that the inquiry would start to hear evidence in publicuntil next year.

In a statement on Monday, Pitchford said: “I very much regret that my diagnosis and the progression of my physical symptoms mean that I shall not be able to complete the work of the inquiry.

“However, I wish to assure the inquiry’s core participants and the public that the inquiry’s work continues unabated and that, with the support of the home secretary and the lord chief justice, for which I am grateful, the transitional arrangements that are being put in place will ensure its continuity when the time comes for me to step down as chairman.”

May set up the inquiry in 2014 after it was revealed that undercover police had spied on the family of Stephen Lawrence, the teenager murdered by a racist gang.

Undercover officers also formed long-term relationships with women during their covert missions and stole the identities of dead children.

The inquiry will examine how undercover officers adopted fake personas for long periods, typically five years, and infiltrated hundreds of political groups since 1968.

The inquiry has been delayed. The police have been arguing for a year that most of the inquiry should be held behind closed doors.

They say they need more time to prepare legal applications to keep the identities of their undercover officers concealed.

They want a deadline for these applications to be extended from March to October.

The police are also attempting to limit the scope of the inquiry, arguing that the conduct of fewer undercover officers should be examined.

This month the Independent Police Complaints Commission disclosed it had uncovered evidence that a Scotland Yard intelligence unit had shredded a large number of files after May ordered the public inquiry.