Rod Richardson - Revision history

Chris Brian at 06:39, 2 October 2025

2025-10-02T06:39:47Z

Chris Brian at 09:57, 14 July 2025

2025-07-14T09:57:07Z

Chris Brian at 09:56, 14 July 2025

2025-07-14T09:56:52Z

Peter Salmon at 17:10, 1 January 2019

2019-01-01T17:10:33Z

Peter Salmon at 17:02, 1 January 2019

2019-01-01T17:02:26Z

Peter Salmon at 11:31, 8 November 2017

2017-11-08T11:31:53Z

Peter Salmon: Created page with "{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Rod ?|Alias=Rod Richardson|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Rod Richardson face.jpg |Unit=National Public Order Intelligence Un..."

2017-06-26T09:34:28Z

Created page with "{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Rod ?|Alias=Rod Richardson|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Rod Richardson face.jpg |Unit=National Public Order Intelligence Un..."

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 {{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Rod ?|Alias=Rod Richardson|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Rod Richardson face.jpg |Unit=National Public Order Intelligence Unit|DatesDeployed=1999-2003|Targets=Environmental, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist protestors, Movement Against Monarchy, WOMBLES, Earth First! network}}
-<p style="color: red;">'''Please Note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is now publishing new material on our new website:''' *[https://www.spycopsresearch.info spycops.info]*<br/><br/>
+<p style="color: red;">'''Please Note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is now publishing new material on our new website:''' *[https://www.spycopsresearch.info spycopsresearch.info]*<br/><br/>
 +++This profile was last updated in 2016+++

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 <p style="color: red;">'''Please Note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is now publishing new material on our new website:''' *[https://www.spycopsresearch.info spycops.info]*<br/><br/>
-+++This profile was last update in 2016+++
++++This profile was last updated in 2016+++
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← Older revision		Revision as of 09:56, 14 July 2025
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	{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar\|Name=Rod ?\|Alias=Rod Richardson\|Series=undercover police officers\|Image=Rod Richardson face.jpg \|Unit=National Public Order Intelligence Unit\|DatesDeployed=1999-2003\|Targets=Environmental, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist protestors, Movement Against Monarchy, WOMBLES, Earth First! network}}		{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar\|Name=Rod ?\|Alias=Rod Richardson\|Series=undercover police officers\|Image=Rod Richardson face.jpg \|Unit=National Public Order Intelligence Unit\|DatesDeployed=1999-2003\|Targets=Environmental, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist protestors, Movement Against Monarchy, WOMBLES, Earth First! network}}
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		+	<p style="color: red;">'''Please Note, as of 2025, the Undercover Research Group is now publishing new material on our new website:''' [https://www.spycopsresearch.info spycops.info]<br/><br/>
		+
		+	+++This profile was last update in 2016+++
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		+	<p style="color: black;">

	'''Rod Richardson''' was an environmental, anarchist and animal rights protestor who was active between 1999 and 2003 in Essex, London and Nottingham. In February 2013 he was unmasked on ''Indymedia UK'' and in ''The Guardian'' as an undercover officer. On 15th December 2016, the [[Undercover Policing Inquiry]] released a statement confirming he had been a Metropolitan Police officer and that he had worked for the [[National Public Order Intelligence Unit]].<ref name="ucpi.161215.1">Undercover Policing Public Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/161215-press-notice-N596.pdf No anonymity sought for undercover identity ‘Rod Richardson’], UCPI.org.uk (press release), 15 December 2016 (accessed 7 January 2017).</ref>		'''Rod Richardson''' was an environmental, anarchist and animal rights protestor who was active between 1999 and 2003 in Essex, London and Nottingham. In February 2013 he was unmasked on ''Indymedia UK'' and in ''The Guardian'' as an undercover officer. On 15th December 2016, the [[Undercover Policing Inquiry]] released a statement confirming he had been a Metropolitan Police officer and that he had worked for the [[National Public Order Intelligence Unit]].<ref name="ucpi.161215.1">Undercover Policing Public Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/161215-press-notice-N596.pdf No anonymity sought for undercover identity ‘Rod Richardson’], UCPI.org.uk (press release), 15 December 2016 (accessed 7 January 2017).</ref>

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 It is also thought that the deployment of Rod Richardson is the matter obliquely referenced in evidence from the Metropolitan Police to the UCPI. In a witness statement, Det. Supt. [[Neil Hutchison]] mentions that details of an NPOIU operation relating to the Metropolitan Police had been handed over to Operation Herne in 2013. However, Operation Herne did not acquire other NPOIU related material until June 2015 and did not formally changes its terms of reference to include that unit until October 2015.<ref name="nh.9-12.pt1">Neil Hutchison, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160617-statement-of-Neil-Huchison-provisionally-redacted-PART-1.pdf Witness Statement on Rule 9-12 (PARTIALLY REDACTED) to Undercover Policing Inquiry - PART 1], paragraphs 48(ii) ff, Metropolitan Police Service, 17 June 2016 (accessed 12 July 2016).</ref> The 2013 material is thought to be a reference to Operation Riverwood.<ref name="pc.2016">Undercover Research Group: personal conversation with campaigners focused on the Undercover Policing Inquiry, 2016.</ref>
 ==References==
 <references/>

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 {{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Rod ?|Alias=Rod Richardson|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Rod Richardson face.jpg |Unit=National Public Order Intelligence Unit|DatesDeployed=1999-2003|Targets=Environmental, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist protestors, Movement Against Monarchy, WOMBLES, Earth First! network}}
-'''Rod Richardson''' was an environmental, anarchist and animal rights protestor who was active between 1999 and 2003 in Essex, London and Nottingham. In February 2013 he was unmasked on ''Indymedia UK'' and in ''The Guardian'' as an undercover officer. On 15th December 2016, the [[Pitchford Inquiry into Undercover Policing]] released a statement confirming he had been a Metropolitan Police officer and that he had worked for the [[National Public Order Intelligence Unit]].<ref name="ucpi.161215.1">Undercover Policing Public Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/161215-press-notice-N596.pdf No anonymity sought for undercover identity ‘Rod Richardson’], UCPI.org.uk (press release), 15 December 2016 (accessed 7 January 2017).</ref>
+'''Rod Richardson''' was an environmental, anarchist and animal rights protestor who was active between 1999 and 2003 in Essex, London and Nottingham. In February 2013 he was unmasked on ''Indymedia UK'' and in ''The Guardian'' as an undercover officer. On 15th December 2016, the [[Undercover Policing Inquiry]] released a statement confirming he had been a Metropolitan Police officer and that he had worked for the [[National Public Order Intelligence Unit]].<ref name="ucpi.161215.1">Undercover Policing Public Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/161215-press-notice-N596.pdf No anonymity sought for undercover identity ‘Rod Richardson’], UCPI.org.uk (press release), 15 December 2016 (accessed 7 January 2017).</ref>
 It is notable that he disappeared just before [[Mark Kennedy]] appeared in the same activist circles, and that both based themselves mainly in Nottingham and London. This has led to speculation that Rod was active in preparing the way for Kennedy.<ref name="s.e.12-12-16">Undercover Research Group: email from Simon Chapman, London activist with Movement Against Monarchy and the W.O.M.B.L.E.S., 12 December 2016.</ref><ref>Undercover Research Group: this point was raised by a number of interviewees who knew Rod in Nottingham.</ref>
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 * [[Rod Richardson: environmental targets]] (Rettendon, Nottingham &amp; Earth First!)
 * [[Rod Richardson: policing]] (undercover policing and chains of command)
 ==Overview of activities==
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 It is also thought that the deployment of Rod Richardson is the matter obliquely referenced in evidence from the Metropolitan Police to the UCPI. In a witness statement, Det. Supt. [[Neil Hutchison]] mentions that details of an NPOIU operation relating to the Metropolitan Police had been handed over to Operation Herne in 2013. However, Operation Herne did not acquire other NPOIU related material until June 2015 and did not formally changes its terms of reference to include that unit until October 2015.<ref name="nh.9-12.pt1">Neil Hutchison, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160617-statement-of-Neil-Huchison-provisionally-redacted-PART-1.pdf Witness Statement on Rule 9-12 (PARTIALLY REDACTED) to Undercover Policing Inquiry - PART 1], paragraphs 48(ii) ff, Metropolitan Police Service, 17 June 2016 (accessed 12 July 2016).</ref> The 2013 material is thought to be a reference to Operation Riverwood.<ref name="pc.2016">Undercover Research Group: personal conversation with campaigners focused on the Undercover Policing Inquiry, 2016.</ref>
 ==References==
 <references/>

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 Much of his time was divided between London and Nottingham. He arrived in London in 2000 and got involved with the Class War offshoot, Movement Against Monarchy, taking part in their demonstrations. He appeared to associate somewhat with Reclaim the Streets, and following a split, he joined the high-profile W.O.M.B.L.E.S. group. For the remainder of his time in London, he would be closely associated with them, taking part in many of their large actions such as MayDay 2001, DSEi 2001 and MayDay 2002. During DSEi 2001 he sabotaged an action by the group, when he was supposedly arrested while transporting equipment. Throughout his time with them, the group was subject to intense police pressure and media scrutiny.
-He also travelled with the WOMBLES to international counter-summit protests. This included two G8 Summits - Genoa in 2001, where he fought with Italian police, and Evian in 2003.
+He also traveled with the WOMBLES to international counter-summit protests. This included two G8 Summits - Genoa in 2001, where he fought with Italian police, and Evian in 2003.
 In late 2000 he moved to Nottingham, a city with a strong environmental and animal rights protest scene. Though he was generally only present there at weekends, he immersed himself in activities there, getting involved with local hunt saboteurs and anti-fascist groups. He also travelled with activists from the city to protests and actions elsewhere in the country.
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 One person recalled him having a January birthday party in a local pub in Nottingham where he got drunk and took part in the karaoke there, moshing away to the Prodigy.<ref name="mp.i.9Aug2015"/> ''The Guardian'' wrote of the same event:<ref name="guardian.2"/>
-:: Rod Richardson celebrated his 29th birthday in style on 5 January 2002. After drinking tequila and absinthe, he let his housemates push him through the snow on a tray to Nottingham's Elm Tree pub. It was karaoke night. "I remember Rod was one of the first up and did Firestarter by the Prodigy," a friend recalls. "He was literally screaming it, picking up a chair over his head and waving it and then running around the seating shouting: 'I'm a firestarter'."
+:: Rod Richardson celebrated his 29th birthday in style on 5 January 2002. After drinking tequila and absinthe, he let his house-mates push him through the snow on a tray to Nottingham's Elm Tree pub. It was karaoke night. "I remember Rod was one of the first up and did Firestarter by the Prodigy," a friend recalls. "He was literally screaming it, picking up a chair over his head and waving it and then running around the seating shouting: 'I'm a firestarter'."
 This matches in the reflections of another Nottingham activist who knew him well. She described him as 'neither self-conscious nor shy'. She remembered him as being happy to dress up in theatre clothes that activists there had found in bins, and of him dancing to 'Singing in the Rain', complete with umbrella.<ref name="Yvette"/> At one point Rod made several CDs of a mix of music, labelled 'Rods Mad Mix', which included songs from Transvision Vamp and The Flumps. One of the CDs had the song 'Cop Killer' by Ice T, which seemed out of place compared to the rest of the music and a bit too much.<ref name="Yvette">Undercover Research Group: interview with 'Yvette', Nottingham activist close to Rod, 16 August 2016.</ref>
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 ==Exit strategy==
-During 2002 Rod becomes less active. On the coach to a summit mobilisation in Prague in November 2002, he talked to London activists about his girlfriend being in Australia and maybe going there.<ref name="Charlie.2-11-16"/> In Nottingham, his visits became less frequent, and he said that he was going travelling. Around December 2002 / January 2003 he claimed to be in Australia, as his partner Jo was doing a marine biology course there and he was checking it out. He also claimed to have had all his stuff stolen, including his passport<ref name="emails.1">Emails from Rod to a Nottingham friend, seen by Undercover Research Group</ref>. Friends in Nottingham received postcards from Australia and Thailand, as well as several emails.<ref name="mp.i.9Aug2015"/><ref name="imc.1"/> He moved out of the Nottingham housing co-operative circa January 2003.<ref>Undercover Research Group: telephone call with Nottingham activist 'J', 26 July 2016.</ref>
+During 2002 Rod becomes less active. On the coach to a summit mobilisation in Prague in November 2002, he talked to London activists about his girlfriend being in Australia and maybe going there.<ref name="Charlie.2-11-16"/> In Nottingham, his visits became less frequent, and he said that he was going traveling. Around December 2002 / January 2003 he claimed to be in Australia, as his partner Jo was doing a marine biology course there and he was checking it out. He also claimed to have had all his stuff stolen, including his passport<ref name="emails.1">Emails from Rod to a Nottingham friend, seen by Undercover Research Group</ref>. Friends in Nottingham received postcards from Australia and Thailand, as well as several emails.<ref name="mp.i.9Aug2015"/><ref name="imc.1"/> He moved out of the Nottingham housing co-operative circa January 2003.<ref>Undercover Research Group: telephone call with Nottingham activist 'J', 26 July 2016.</ref>
 However, in London Rod remained active enough to go with other WOMBLES to the Evian Summit in June 2003 (see above). It is during that trip that London-based activists there remember him talking about moving away in earnest.
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 There were a few incidents where suspicions around Rod were raised during his deployment, but at the time there was not enough knowledge of undercover policing methods or evidence about him to carry out an investigation. For instance, MAM activist, Trevor Bark, recalled that Rod was not particularly trusted in that group as 'something didn't hang right' about him.<ref name="tb.p.27-7-16"/> At least one WOMBLES activist held suspicions about him.<ref name="Charlie.2-11-16"/>
-Some felt that there was something off in the way he talked about the WOMBLES at the Dartmoor Earth First! Summer Gathering in 2002.<ref name="wg.m.May2016"/> 'Harriet' who knew him through the Gatherings considered him a very likeable person, but her instinct was not to trust him as he was an odd fit, her phrase being that he had 'cop feet’. His job also seemed a bit of a mismatch, and he did not seem to have political opinions as such.<ref name="wg.m.May2016"/> However, her suspicions were somewhat allayed when she was told that he had been involved in a number of actions.<ref name="h.p.6Dec2015"/>
+Some felt that there was something off in the way he talked about the WOMBLES at the Dartmoor Earth First! Summer Gathering in 2002.<ref name="wg.m.May2016"/> 'Harriet' who knew him through the Gatherings considered him a very likable person, but her instinct was not to trust him as he was an odd fit, her phrase being that he had 'cop feet’. His job also seemed a bit of a mismatch, and he did not seem to have political opinions as such.<ref name="wg.m.May2016"/> However, her suspicions were somewhat allayed when she was told that he had been involved in a number of actions.<ref name="h.p.6Dec2015"/>
 ===Laura's suspicions===
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 Rod had raised suspicions of one London activist, Laura, who wrote about it in ''The Guardian'', though it was not until after he left and vanished that the thread came together.
-She noted that in 2001, Rod had started coming to meetings at her flat where an action at the Elephant & Castle roundabout in South London was being discussed. He became a regular visitor, even staying over on occasion, particularly the night before MayDay that year. Around that time, she had been charged with flyposting and her flat was raided. The response was disproportionate; local police were surprised she was being held overnight. The flat itself was ransacked and trashed by the police.<ref name="laura.1"/>
+She noted that in 2001, Rod had started coming to meetings at her flat where an action at the Elephant & Castle roundabout in South London was being discussed. He became a regular visitor, even staying over on occasion, particularly the night before MayDay that year. Around that time, she had been charged with fly-posting and her flat was raided. The response was disproportionate; local police were surprised she was being held overnight. The flat itself was ransacked and trashed by the police.<ref name="laura.1"/>
 She also recalled an unusual meeting where he turned up at a meeting of Norwich based anti-monarchists:<ref name="laura.1"/>
-:: On another occasion a friend and I went to Norwich to meet up with some people we had recently met, to discuss working together on some anti-monarchist actions. When we arrived at the house for dinner, which was a small affair of about eight people, I was really surprised to see Rod there as I wasn't aware he had any connection at all with these individuals or Norwich in general. I remember asking him how come he was there, and him being slightly affronted by the question. He shrugged and said he had been invited. It was the flash of discomfort on his face that triggered my suspicions. It just didn't seem right – there was a total sense of disconnect about his prfesence there.
+:: On another occasion a friend and I went to Norwich to meet up with some people we had recently met, to discuss working together on some anti-monarchist actions. When we arrived at the house for dinner, which was a small affair of about eight people, I was really surprised to see Rod there as I wasn't aware he had any connection at all with these individuals or Norwich in general. I remember asking him how come he was there, and him being slightly affronted by the question. He shrugged and said he had been invited. It was the flash of discomfort on his face that triggered my suspicions. It just didn't seem right – there was a total sense of disconnect about his presence there.
 She also noted that he claimed to be an 'artist activist', which justified him bringing a video camera to actions, but 'none of the films he claimed he was making for Indymedia ever appeared there'.<ref name="laura.1"/>
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 A decade later, an activist who had known him well in London was visiting Australia, but was not able to find anyone who had heard of him there.<ref name="Charlie.2-11-16"/>
-In Nottingham, following the exposure of Mark Kennedy and the subsequent unravelling of the spycops controversy, people started recognising things in hindsight.<ref name="imc.1"/> With Kennedy was exposed, the depths to which such an infiltration would go to became clearer and it was accepted that Rod was a prime suspect for being another undercover cop.<ref name="b.p11-9-2015"/> It is thought that Rod had been in Nottingham doing reconnaissance and preparing the way for the deployment of Mark Kennedy, who arrived in Nottingham in Summer 2003.<ref name="imc.1"/>
+In Nottingham, following the exposure of Mark Kennedy and the subsequent unraveling of the spycops controversy, people started recognising things in hindsight.<ref name="imc.1"/> With Kennedy was exposed, the depths to which such an infiltration would go to became clearer and it was accepted that Rod was a prime suspect for being another undercover cop.<ref name="b.p11-9-2015"/> It is thought that Rod had been in Nottingham doing reconnaissance and preparing the way for the deployment of Mark Kennedy, who arrived in Nottingham in Summer 2003.<ref name="imc.1"/>
 Other suspicious behaviour has since been identified, including:
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 :: He is still my baby,... I'll never forget him. We believe we deserve an apology for what happened. It's wrong that someone took Rod's identity without us knowing.
-According to Operation Herne's first report, which investigated the issue of stolen children's identities, the complaint of 4 February was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission on 28 February 2013, who then returned it to the Metropolitan Police to be the subject of a 'local investigation', named Operation Riverwood.<ref>Mick Creedon, [http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/Documents/About-Us/Herne/Operation-Herne---Report-1---Covert-Identities.pdf Operation Herne - Report 1: Covert Identities], ''Metropolitan Police Service'', July 2013.</ref>
+According to Operation Herne's first report, which investigated the issue of stolen children's identities, the complaint of 4 February was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission on 28 February 2013, who then returned it to the Metropolitan Police to be the subject of a 'local investigation', named Operation Riverwood.<ref>Mick Creedon, [http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/Documents/About-Us/Herne/Operation-Herne---Report-1---Covert-Identities.pdf Operation Herne - Report 1: Covert Identities], ''Metropolitan Police Service'', July 2013. In particular, the report stated:
 On 16 July 2013, the same day the Operation Herne report was published, Barbara Shaw received a letter from a Commander in the Metropolitan Police's Directorate of Professional Standards, which included the paragraph:<ref name="UCPI.transcript.16-6-16"/>
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 The matter was the subject of a preliminary hearing in the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) before Christopher Pitchford, who said it was known that at least one undercover officer from the National Public Order Intelligence Unit had taken the identity of a dead child.<ref name="UCPI.transcript.16-6-16">[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/160622-transcript-deceased-children.pdf Preliminary hearing on deceased children's identities (transcript of hearing, page 60)] ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 22 June 2016 (accessed 20 July 2016).</ref> At that time no other NPOIU undercover officer had been identified as using this technique, so it was considered this had been a tacit admission by Justice Pitchford that Richardson was an undercover.<ref name="pc.2016"/>
-It is also thought that the deployment of Rod Richardson is the matter obliquely referenced in evidence from the Metropolitan Police to the UCPI. In a witness statement, Det. Supt. [[Neil Hutchison]] mentions that details of an NPOIU operation relating to the Metropolitan Police had been handed over to Operation Herne in 2013. However, Operation Herne did not acquire other NPOIU related material until June 2015 and did not formally changes its terms of reference to include that unit until October 2015.<ref name="nh.9-12.pt1">Neil Hutchison, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160617-statement-of-Neil-Huchison-provisionally-redacted-PART-1.pdf Witness Statement on Rule 9-12 (PARTIALLY REDACTED) to Undercover Policing Inquiry - PART 1], paragraphs 48(ii) ff, Metropolitan Police Service, 17 June 2016 (accessed 12 July 2016).</ref> It is believed the 2013 material refers to Operation Riverwood.<ref name="pc.2016">Undercover Research Group: personal conversation with campaigners focused on teh Undercover Policing Inquiry, 2016.</ref>
+It is also thought that the deployment of Rod Richardson is the matter obliquely referenced in evidence from the Metropolitan Police to the UCPI. In a witness statement, Det. Supt. [[Neil Hutchison]] mentions that details of an NPOIU operation relating to the Metropolitan Police had been handed over to Operation Herne in 2013. However, Operation Herne did not acquire other NPOIU related material until June 2015 and did not formally changes its terms of reference to include that unit until October 2015.<ref name="nh.9-12.pt1">Neil Hutchison, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160617-statement-of-Neil-Huchison-provisionally-redacted-PART-1.pdf Witness Statement on Rule 9-12 (PARTIALLY REDACTED) to Undercover Policing Inquiry - PART 1], paragraphs 48(ii) ff, Metropolitan Police Service, 17 June 2016 (accessed 12 July 2016).</ref> The 2013 material is thought to be a reference to Operation Riverwood.<ref name="pc.2016">Undercover Research Group: personal conversation with campaigners focused on the Undercover Policing Inquiry, 2016.</ref>
 ===Rod Richardson and the Pitchford Inquiry===