McLibel defendant Helen Steel, victim of a Met honeypot deception, is to speak in Londonderry

An environmental activist lured into a relationship with an undercover policeman will be speaking in Londonderry next weekend.

Helen Steel was an environmental and justice campaigner when she met a man she believed shared her beliefs.

However, after a long relationship, ‘John Barker’ left.

Years later, Helen discovered that he was an undercover policemen who had infiltrated the group. His real name was John Dines. He had used the identity of a child of eight who had died from leukaemia. The Metropolitan Police had provided Dines with the fake ID in the child’s name which he used to pass himself off.

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Helen was one of seven women deceived in this way by police. Two had children with the men concerned. Helen will be speaking at the Pilot’s Row centre on Saturday, January 30 at 2.30. The meeting is one in the series marking the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Helen will share a platform with Clare Daly TD, talking of her own experience of policing in the context of her involvement in the anti-water charges campaign and anti-war activity at Shannon airport.

Other speakers will be Aidan Ferguson of the Greater Ardoyne Residents’ Collective; Professor Mark McGovern of Edge Hill University, Liverpool, whose research focuses on state violence and human rights; and Suresh Grover, director of the London-based Monitoring Project, which works to support victims of racial prejudice and violence.

“What links all these issues and Bloody Sunday together is that each represents a denial of human rights, an abuse of power and the connivance of the State in malpractice and criminality. We are hoping for a good turnout for what should prove a fascinating and educational - if troubling - occasion,” a spokesperson said.