Jim/Jimmy Pickford (alias) - Revision history

Eveline at 16:38, 1 August 2025

2025-08-01T16:38:47Z

Chris Brian at 09:29, 14 July 2025

2025-07-14T09:29:36Z

Eveline at 23:33, 21 April 2021

2021-04-21T23:33:54Z

Chris Brian at 15:15, 21 January 2021

2021-01-21T15:15:14Z

Chris Brian: /* Lower Down/Pavement */

2021-01-21T15:03:52Z

Lower Down/Pavement

Chris Brian at 15:02, 21 January 2021

2021-01-21T15:02:23Z

Peter Salmon at 08:23, 25 October 2020

2020-10-25T08:23:20Z

Chris Brian: /* In the Undercover Policing Inquiry */

2020-09-30T13:56:35Z

In the Undercover Policing Inquiry

Chris Brian: /* Resources */

2020-09-30T13:56:13Z

Resources

Chris Brian at 13:55, 30 September 2020

2020-09-30T13:55:37Z

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 {{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name='HN300'|Alias=Jim / Jimmy Pickford|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Male_silhouette.png |Unit=Special Demonstration Squad|DatesDeployed=late 1974 - Jan 1977|Targets=Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Council Anti-Fascist Committee, Federation of London Anarchist Groups, Freedom Collective, Kingston Anarchist Association, Pavement Collective and Wandsworth Anarchist Workers Association / South London Anarchist Workers Association}}
-'''Please Note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is now publishing new material on our new website:''' *[https://www.spycopsresearch.info spycops.info]*
+'''Please note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is publishing new material at [https://www.spycopsresearch.info SpycopsResearch.info]'''
 '''HN300''' is the cipher given to a former [[Special Demonstration Squad]] undercover officer who used the cover name 'Jim/Jimmy Pickford' and was deployed from late 1974 to January 1977. He formed a sexual relationship with a woman whom he met whilst using his undercover persona. They were later married. He is deceased.<ref name="mitting.mindedto5.7Mar2018">Sir John Mitting, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180307-SDS-anonymity-Minded-to-5.pdf In the matter of section 19(3) of the Inquiries Act 2005. Applications for restriction orders in respect of the real and cover names of officers of the Special Operations Squad and Special Demonstration Squad - 'Minded To' Note 5], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 7 March 2018 (accessed 10 March 2018).</ref>

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:29, 14 July 2025
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	{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar\|Name='HN300'\|Alias=Jim / Jimmy Pickford\|Series=undercover police officers\|Image=Male_silhouette.png \|Unit=Special Demonstration Squad\|DatesDeployed=late 1974 - Jan 1977\|Targets=Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Council Anti-Fascist Committee, Federation of London Anarchist Groups, Freedom Collective, Kingston Anarchist Association, Pavement Collective and Wandsworth Anarchist Workers Association / South London Anarchist Workers Association}}		{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar\|Name='HN300'\|Alias=Jim / Jimmy Pickford\|Series=undercover police officers\|Image=Male_silhouette.png \|Unit=Special Demonstration Squad\|DatesDeployed=late 1974 - Jan 1977\|Targets=Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Council Anti-Fascist Committee, Federation of London Anarchist Groups, Freedom Collective, Kingston Anarchist Association, Pavement Collective and Wandsworth Anarchist Workers Association / South London Anarchist Workers Association}}
		+
		+	'''Please Note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is now publishing new material on our new website:''' [https://www.spycopsresearch.info spycops.info]

	'''HN300''' is the cipher given to a former [[Special Demonstration Squad]] undercover officer who used the cover name 'Jim/Jimmy Pickford' and was deployed from late 1974 to January 1977. He formed a sexual relationship with a woman whom he met whilst using his undercover persona. They were later married. He is deceased.<ref name="mitting.mindedto5.7Mar2018">Sir John Mitting, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180307-SDS-anonymity-Minded-to-5.pdf In the matter of section 19(3) of the Inquiries Act 2005. Applications for restriction orders in respect of the real and cover names of officers of the Special Operations Squad and Special Demonstration Squad - 'Minded To' Note 5], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 7 March 2018 (accessed 10 March 2018).</ref>		'''HN300''' is the cipher given to a former [[Special Demonstration Squad]] undercover officer who used the cover name 'Jim/Jimmy Pickford' and was deployed from late 1974 to January 1977. He formed a sexual relationship with a woman whom he met whilst using his undercover persona. They were later married. He is deceased.<ref name="mitting.mindedto5.7Mar2018">Sir John Mitting, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180307-SDS-anonymity-Minded-to-5.pdf In the matter of section 19(3) of the Inquiries Act 2005. Applications for restriction orders in respect of the real and cover names of officers of the Special Operations Squad and Special Demonstration Squad - 'Minded To' Note 5], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 7 March 2018 (accessed 10 March 2018).</ref>

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:33, 21 April 2021
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	* ''For the N cipher system see [[N officers]] page.''		* ''For the N cipher system see [[N officers]] page.''
		+
		+	'''+++++ Last Updated January 2021 +++++'''

	=Targets=		=Targets=

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 Someone else said of him, he was: 'Sussed, enthusiastic, nice enough. Working Class [...] and   ordinary [...] not (a) provocateur.'<ref name="InterviewCM"> Undercover Research Group, Interview with Charles Mowbray, October 2019 (accessed 27 July 2020).</ref> Another commented: 'Really easy fellow to get on with. Took me in totally [...]'. He was also said to have had a 'calming' effect on one other younger AWA activist, who vocalised a more aggressive philosophy to political campaigning.<ref name="JT"/>
-While one activist recalled that 'Jim' was very much interested in anti-fascist organising,<ref name="JT"/> Bob commented that 'Jim' was not an obvious candidate for the type of militant anti-fascist activity of which was the committees raison d'etre.<ref name="Bob"/>
+While one activist recalled that 'Jim' was very much interested in anti-fascist organising,<ref name="JT"/> Bob commented that 'Jim' was not an obvious candidate for the type of militant anti-fascist activity of which was the committees raison d'etre.<ref name="Bob"/> The one who recalls him from Pavement and Lower Down publications (see below) recalls him as often distributing copes of the AWA paper and presenting himself as a committed anarchist.<ref name="GeofInterview"/>
 On Pickford's appearance, it is commented that: 'he had Black hair and beard, tending towards the shaggy and unkempt - weren’t we all'. He is also remembered as quite short and stocky and 'possibly under the minimum height for the Met then'.<ref>Note the minimum height for male recruits used to be 5ft and 11 Inches. See: [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6997551/Britains-smallest-police-officer-nicknamed-laptop.html Britain's smallest police officer nicknamed laptop ] ''Daily Telegraph'', 16 January 2016 (accessed 4 August 2020).</ref> and 'prematurely grey'. It was also said that  '[...]he had a London-ish accent, classless and somehow non-specific'.<ref name="Bob"/><ref name="CMemail250919">Charles Mowbray, email to Undercover Research Group 25 September 2019 (accessed 18 August 2020).</ref><ref name="InterviewCM"/>

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 ===Lower Down/Pavement===
-Lower Down was a community magazine based in South-West London in the mid-70s. One of its former contributors, Geof - who was also involved in Pavement is the only one who recalls Pickford outside of  AWA/WAFARC circles.<ref name="GeofInterview"/>Undercover Research Group, Interview with Geof, 21 January 2021.</ref> His recollection of Pickford's personality largely coincides with the accounts given by former members of those groups.<ref name="GeofInterview"/> He dates Pickford as being very peripherally involved with Lower Down/Pavement between 1975 and 1976 - and came to a handful of meetings. Geof, like the former members of the AWA shocked to hear that Pickford was a police spy - and could see no justification for it as Pavement/Lower Down only involved themselves in advocacy within their local community on issues such as housing and social security.<ref name="GeofInterview"/>
+Lower Down was a community magazine based in South-West London in the mid-70s. One of its former contributors, Geof - who was also involved in Pavement is the only one who recalls Pickford outside of  AWA/WAFARC circles.<ref name="GeofInterview">Undercover Research Group, Interview with Geof, 21 January 2021.</ref> His recollection of Pickford's personality largely coincides with the accounts given by former members of those groups.<ref name="GeofInterview"/> He dates Pickford as being very peripherally involved with Lower Down/Pavement between 1975 and 1976 - and came to a handful of meetings. Geof, like the former members of the AWA shocked to hear that Pickford was a police spy - and could see no justification for it as Pavement/Lower Down only involved themselves in advocacy within their local community on issues such as housing and social security.<ref name="GeofInterview"/>
 ===History===

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 ==Anarchist Workers Association==
-Members from the Anarchist Workers Association (and Wandsworth Anti-Fascist/Anti-Racist Committee) are the only ones who recall Pickford.<ref name="Bob"/><ref name="JT"/><ref name"AP">Undercover Research Group, Interview with 'AnnieP', 28 July 2020.</ref><ref name="InterviewCM"/>
+Members from the Anarchist Workers Association (and Wandsworth Anti-Fascist/Anti-Racist Committee) are the only ones who recall Pickford with much detail.<ref name="Bob"/><ref name="JT"/><ref name"AP">Undercover Research Group, Interview with 'AnnieP', 28 July 2020.</ref><ref name="InterviewCM"/>
 The Anarchist Workers Association (AWA), previously called the Organisation of Revolutionary Anarchists (ORA) 1973-1974<ref name="LibStruggleJan74">[https://libcom.org/files/LS11.pdf ''Libertarian Struggle''] ORA, January 1974 (accessed 13 July 2020).</ref> was a worker-orientated anarchist group.
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 UPAL was a campaign group which assisted many individuals in the efforts to overturn wrongful criminal convictions.<ref name="Taylor"> J. D. Taylor, [https://www.academia.edu/34448953/_Not_that_serious_The_investigation_and_trial_of_the_Angry_Brigade_ 'Not that serious? The investigation and trial of the Angry Brigade'] In: Evan Smith and Matthew Worley (eds.), ''Waiting for the Revolution: The British Far Left from 1956''. Vol. II, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017 (accessed 24 July 2020).</ref> The development and activities of UPAL came out of the 'Stoke Newington 8' (or Angry Brigade) trial in 1972. Members of the defence committee in that court case then expanded and developed their activities forming the Up Against the Law collective. They were also involved in the high-profile ‘Free George Ince’ and the successful ‘Free George Davis’ campaigns (the latter included the sabotaging of an Ashes cricket international in 1975 by destroying the turf in Yorkshire).<ref name="Taylor"/><ref> Note: There does seem to be some connection between UPAL and another publication of the time: ''Hackney Gutter Press'' as they had a column titled 'Up Against the Law'. See:[https://archive.org/details/gutter4?q=%2AUp+Against+the+Law%2A ''Gutter Press''] June 1972 (accessed 24 July 2020).</ref><ref>Note: A search for UPAL issues revealed this one incomplete archive: [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11477891 UP AGAINST THE LAW' (magazine), February/March 1975 issue: offences for libel] National Archive Reference: DPP 2/5648 (accessed 12 August 2020).</ref>
-==Pavement Collective==
+===Lower Down/Pavement===
 ===History===
 An editorial from the 1984 Annual describes the history and aims of the publication:<ref name="Pavement1984"/><ref>NOTE: Archive held at Brighton University: [https://brighton.rl.talis.com/page/underground-and-alternative-press-collection.html Alternative Press Collection] undated (accessed 12 August 2020).</ref>
 ::The first issue of ''Pavement'' was produced by the Wandsworth Community Workshop as a wall newspaper in April 1970, and pasted round the borough for passers-by to read. For a while, to escape threats made by the council, it was published anonymously under the name ''Guttersnipe'', but in March 1972 the paper came ‘off the walls’ and onto the streets’ as 2-page publication under the original title.<ref name="Pavement1984"> ''Pavement'' 1984 Annual, Pavement Collective, 1984 (accessed 5 July 2020).</ref>
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 =Notes=
-<references />
+<references/>

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 * 24 September 2019: target name and target groups released.<ref name="ucpi.hn300.page">[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/individuals/hn-300/ HN 300], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 24 September 2019. Announced via [https://twitter.com/ucpinquiry/status/1176519126707294213 Twitter].</ref>
-==Resources==
+=Resources=
 *[https://libcom.org Libertarian Communist News and Archive]
 *[https://thesparrowsnest.org.uk/ Sparrows Nest Archive]
-==Notes==
+=Notes=
 <references />

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 =In the Undercover Policing Inquiry=
 * 11 January 2018: directions issued for any application for restriction orders to be submitted by end of January 2018.<ref name="ucpi.directions.11Jan2018">[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180111-directions-SDS-anonymity.pdf Applications for restriction orders in respect of the real and cover names of officers of the Special Operations Squad and the Special Demonstrations Squad: Directions], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 11 January 2018.</ref>
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 * 7 March 2018: 'Minded To' note stated that HN300's second wife and two children had provided a joint statement about their experiences during his deployment and the impact disclosure of his real name may have on them. Mitting indicated that because publishing his real name would interfere with their rights, he would grant the restriction order over it. Though, if further information on his cover name becomes known to the Inquiry it will be published.<ref name="mitting.mindedto5.7Mar2018"/>
 ==Resources==

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:55, 30 September 2020
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	* 7 March 2018: 'Minded To' note stated that HN300's second wife and two children had provided a joint statement about their experiences during his deployment and the impact disclosure of his real name may have on them. Mitting indicated that because publishing his real name would interfere with their rights, he would grant the restriction order over it. Though, if further information on his cover name becomes known to the Inquiry it will be published.<ref name="mitting.mindedto5.7Mar2018"/>		* 7 March 2018: 'Minded To' note stated that HN300's second wife and two children had provided a joint statement about their experiences during his deployment and the impact disclosure of his real name may have on them. Mitting indicated that because publishing his real name would interfere with their rights, he would grant the restriction order over it. Though, if further information on his cover name becomes known to the Inquiry it will be published.<ref name="mitting.mindedto5.7Mar2018"/>
		+
		+	==Resources==
		+
		+	*[https://libcom.org Libertarian Communist News and Archive]
		+	*[https://thesparrowsnest.org.uk/ Sparrows Nest Archive]
		+

	* 15 May 2018: ruled that HN300's real name will be restricted in the course of the Inquiry.<ref name="mitting.ruling.15May18">[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/20180515_ruling_SDS_anonymity.pdf In the matter of section 19 (3) of the Inquiries Act 2005 Applications for restriction orders in respect of the real and cover names of officers of the Special Operations Squad and the Special Demonstrations Squad: Ruling], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 15 May 2018.</ref>		* 15 May 2018: ruled that HN300's real name will be restricted in the course of the Inquiry.<ref name="mitting.ruling.15May18">[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/20180515_ruling_SDS_anonymity.pdf In the matter of section 19 (3) of the Inquiries Act 2005 Applications for restriction orders in respect of the real and cover names of officers of the Special Operations Squad and the Special Demonstrations Squad: Ruling], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 15 May 2018.</ref>