Roger Pearce - Revision history

Chris Brian at 06:41, 2 October 2025

2025-10-02T06:41:37Z

Chris Brian at 10:02, 14 July 2025

2025-07-14T10:02:08Z

Chris Brian at 10:01, 14 July 2025

2025-07-14T10:01:39Z

Eveline at 15:30, 5 June 2024

2024-06-05T15:30:10Z

Eveline at 15:29, 5 June 2024

2024-06-05T15:29:11Z

Eveline at 15:28, 5 June 2024

2024-06-05T15:28:47Z

Eveline: /* Establishment of NPOIU */

2019-11-12T13:25:15Z

Establishment of NPOIU

Peter Salmon at 09:11, 14 July 2018

2018-07-14T09:11:38Z

Eveline: /* In the Undercover Policing Inquiry */

2018-03-28T14:04:52Z

In the Undercover Policing Inquiry

Eveline: /* In the Undercover Policing Inquiry */

2018-03-28T14:04:16Z

In the Undercover Policing Inquiry

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 {{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Roger Pearce|Alias=Roger Thorley / 'HN85'|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Roger_Pearce_2a.jpg |Unit=Special Demonstration Squad|DatesDeployed=1978-1980 / 1979-1984|Targets=anarchist groups, Freedom Press}}
-<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/>
 <p style="color: black;">

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 It seems that Pearce used Freedom to get access British connections with the radical community in Northern Ireland. After a fact-finding mission to Belfast he disappeared from sight.
-''* This profile is an ongoing project; if you remember 'Roger Thorley' either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, or if you know where he resurfaced later in his deployment period, up to 1984, please get in touch with either [mailto:editor@freedompress.org.uk Freedom Press] or with the [mailto:contact@undercoverresearch.net Undercover Research Group].''
+''* This profile is an ongoing project; if you remember 'Roger Thorley' either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, or if you know where he resurfaced later in his deployment period, up to 1984, please get in touch with either [mailto:editor@freedompress.org.uk Freedom Press] or with the [mailto:contact@undercoverresearch.net Undercover Research Group].''<br/><br/>
 ++++++++++'''Last Updated in 2019''', before any disclosure by the Undercover Policing Inquiry ++++++++++

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:01, 14 July 2025
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	{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar\|Name=Roger Pearce\|Alias=Roger Thorley / 'HN85'\|Series=undercover police officers\|Image=Roger_Pearce_2a.jpg \|Unit=Special Demonstration Squad\|DatesDeployed=1978-1980 / 1979-1984\|Targets=anarchist groups, Freedom Press}}		{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar\|Name=Roger Pearce\|Alias=Roger Thorley / 'HN85'\|Series=undercover police officers\|Image=Roger_Pearce_2a.jpg \|Unit=Special Demonstration Squad\|DatesDeployed=1978-1980 / 1979-1984\|Targets=anarchist groups, Freedom Press}}
		+
		+	<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: black;">

	'''Roger C Pearce''' is a former undercover police officer who rose to be Commander of the [[Metropolitan Police Special Branch]] (MPSB) and Director of Intelligence. Since retiring he has become an author of fiction.		'''Roger C Pearce''' is a former undercover police officer who rose to be Commander of the [[Metropolitan Police Special Branch]] (MPSB) and Director of Intelligence. Since retiring he has become an author of fiction.

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 ''* This profile is an ongoing project; if you remember 'Roger Thorley' either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, or if you know where he resurfaced later in his deployment period, up to 1984, please get in touch with either [mailto:editor@freedompress.org.uk Freedom Press] or with the [mailto:contact@undercoverresearch.net Undercover Research Group].''
-++++++++'''Last Updated in 2019''', before any disclosure by the Undercover Policing Inquiry +++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++'''Last Updated in 2019''', before any disclosure by the Undercover Policing Inquiry ++++++++++
 ==Police career==

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 ''* This profile is an ongoing project; if you remember 'Roger Thorley' either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, or if you know where he resurfaced later in his deployment period, up to 1984, please get in touch with either [mailto:editor@freedompress.org.uk Freedom Press] or with the [mailto:contact@undercoverresearch.net Undercover Research Group].''
-++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ '''Last Updated in 2019''', before any disclosure by the Undercover Policing Inquiry ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++'''Last Updated in 2019''', before any disclosure by the Undercover Policing Inquiry +++++++++++++++++
 ==Police career==

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:28, 5 June 2024
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	''* This profile is an ongoing project; if you remember 'Roger Thorley' either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, or if you know where he resurfaced later in his deployment period, up to 1984, please get in touch with either [mailto:editor@freedompress.org.uk Freedom Press] or with the [mailto:contact@undercoverresearch.net Undercover Research Group].''		''* This profile is an ongoing project; if you remember 'Roger Thorley' either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, or if you know where he resurfaced later in his deployment period, up to 1984, please get in touch with either [mailto:editor@freedompress.org.uk Freedom Press] or with the [mailto:contact@undercoverresearch.net Undercover Research Group].''

		+	++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ '''Last Updated in 2019''', before any disclosure by the Undercover Policing Inquiry ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
	==Police career==		==Police career==

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 Pearce replaced Moss as Head of Special Branch in 1999, and as such held ‘operational resourcing and leadership of the [NPOIU] during the transitional phase'. This was done jointly with [[Paul Blewitt]] of West Midlands Police,<ref name="foia.1">Council Committee on Terrorism and Allied Matters, [http://specialbranchfiles.uk/npoiu-formation/ NPOIU Strategic Overview - Update], Association of Chief Police Officers, 22 January 2000, published at SpecialBranchFiles.UK.</ref> though specifically Pearce oversaw the development of the NPOIU into an operational unit and it was his department that met the costs. It was later noted by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, that this was a period when both the SDS and NPOIU shared connections through people and resources.<ref>[https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/media/review-of-national-police-units-which-provide-intelligence-on-criminality-associated-with-protest-20120202.pdf A review of national police units which provide intelligence on criminality associated with protest], ''HM Inspectorate of Constabulary'', 2012.</ref>
-From this it can be deduced that Pearce was a member of ACPO TAM while head of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch. Furthermore, given his role overseeing the NPOIU, it is likely that Pearce also sat on the NPOIU Steering Group set up by ACPO TAM. Other members were [[Tim Hollis]], Assistant Chief Constable for [[South Yorkshire Police]] and [[Paul Blewitt]], Assistant Chief Constable for Operations at [[West Midlands Police]], both of whom represented ACPO's Public Order Committee. Blewitt would later join former undercover officer [[John_Dines_-_Current_Career|John Dines]] at Charles Sturt University in Australia as an Industry Fellow in its School of Policing Studies.<ref>Paul Blewitt, [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paulblewitt Profile], ''LinkedIn.com'', 2016 (accessed 22 September 2016).</ref>
+From this it can be deduced that Pearce was a member of ACPO TAM while head of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch. Furthermore, given his role overseeing the NPOIU, it is likely that Pearce also sat on the NPOIU Steering Group set up by ACPO TAM. Other members were [[Tim Hollis]], Assistant Chief Constable for [[South Yorkshire Police]] and [[Paul Blewitt]], Assistant Chief Constable for Operations at [[West Midlands Police]], both of whom represented ACPO's Public Order Committee. (Blewitt would later join former undercover officer [[John_Dines_-_Current_Career|John Dines]] at Charles Sturt University in Australia as an Industry Fellow in its School of Policing Studies.<ref>Paul Blewitt, [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paulblewitt Profile], ''LinkedIn.com'', 2016 (accessed 22 September 2016).</ref>)
-Likewise, his involvement in NPOIU implies that he would have had knowledge of undercovers deployed at the time by that unit. These include [[Rod_Richardson_(alias)|Rod Richardson]] (1999-2003), [[Lynn Watson_(alias)|Lynn Watson]] (2002-2006) and [[Mark Kennedy]] (2003-2009). In particular, it is highly likely he would have had responsibility for signing-off Rod Richardson's deployment. Though given the transfer of control over the organisation, it is less clear who was responsibile for authorising Watson and Kennedy.
+Likewise, Pearce's involvement in NPOIU implies that he would have had knowledge of undercovers deployed at the time by that unit. These include [[Rod_Richardson_(alias)|Rod Richardson]] (1999-2003), [[Lynn Watson_(alias)|Lynn Watson]] (2002-2006) and [[Mark Kennedy]] (2003-2009). In particular, it is highly likely he would have had responsibility for signing-off Rod Richardson's deployment. Though given the transfer of control over the organisation, it is less clear who was responsibile for authorising Watson and Kennedy.
 ===BBC ''True Spies'' documentary===

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-{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Roger Pearce|Alias=Roger Thorley / 'HN85'|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Roger_Pearce_2a.jpg |Unit=Special Demonstration Squad|DatesDeployed=1978-1980 / 1979-1984|Targets=anarchist groups}}
+{{Undercover_Police_Officer_sidebar|Name=Roger Pearce|Alias=Roger Thorley / 'HN85'|Series=undercover police officers|Image=Roger_Pearce_2a.jpg |Unit=Special Demonstration Squad|DatesDeployed=1978-1980 / 1979-1984|Targets=anarchist groups, Freedom Press}}
 '''Roger C Pearce''' is a former undercover police officer who rose to be Commander of the [[Metropolitan Police Special Branch]] (MPSB) and Director of Intelligence. Since retiring he has become an author of fiction.
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 == Undercover Deployment==
-In March 2018, the chair of the Undercover Policing Inquiry John Mitting revealed that Pearce as 'Roger Thorley' - formerly know only by the cypher HN85 - had operated as a writer for the anarchist periodical Freedom in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>Undercover Policing Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/cover-names/ Cover names], updated 20 March 2018, (accessed March 2018)</ref> With this, the Feedom collective was accepted as a 'core participant' to the Inquiry. The former chair, Christopher Pitchford had refused to do this when they first applied back in October 2015; Mitting now wrote that in the original ruling Pitchford 'would not have taken into account Operation Herne interview notes, which suggest that HN85 became editor of Freedom Press in Whitechapel and in that capacity wrote virulent anti-police articles'.<ref name = freedomcp>[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180320_ruling_core_participant_17.pdf Ruling Core Participant], 20 March 2018 (accessed March 2018)</ref>
+In March 2018, the chair of the Undercover Policing Inquiry John Mitting revealed that Pearce as 'Roger Thorley' - formerly know only by the cypher HN85 - had operated as a writer for the anarchist periodical Freedom in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>Undercover Policing Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/cover-names/ Cover names], updated 20 March 2018, (accessed March 2018)</ref> With this, the Friends of Freedom Press was accepted as a 'core participant' in the the Inquiry. The former chair, Christopher Pitchford had refused to do this when they first applied back in October 2015; Mitting now wrote that in the original ruling Pitchford 'would not have taken into account Operation Herne interview notes, which suggest that HN85 became editor of Freedom Press in Whitechapel and in that capacity wrote virulent anti-police articles'.<ref name = freedomcp>[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/20180320_ruling_core_participant_17.pdf Ruling Core Participant], 20 March 2018 (accessed March 2018)</ref>
 This profile on Pearce's time undercover as 'Roger Thorley' is based on research by the current Freedom collective, published soon after the Inquiry's confirmation.<ref name = freedomart>Freedom News, [https://freedomnews.org.uk/roger-pearce-infiltrated-freedom-press/Exclusive: The Met spychief who infiltrated Freedom], 24 March 2018 (accessed March 2018)</ref> Looking through the Freedom archive and cross-checking with former collective members, they found that the undercover, writing under the moniker R.T, penned a series of articles over the course of the period 1980-81. He then joined a fact-finding mission to Belfast, before disappearing from sight.

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 == In the Undercover Policing Inquiry==
-On 29 March 2017, the Inquiry into Undercover Policing announced that Roger Pearce would not be seeking anonymity as a former undercover officer, and revealed that his cover name had been 'Roger Thorley'.<ref name="ucpi.29-3-17">Undercover Policing Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/20170329-press-notice-Pearce.pdf No anonymity sought for Roger Pearce], ucpi.org.uk, 29 March 2017 (accessed 29 March 2017).</ref> The first announcement said he had been an undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad from 1978 - 1980,<ref name="ucpi.29-3-17"/> In 2018, further details were released and earlier mistakes - as noted by Rob Evans, see above - corrected: Pearce's deployment had been longer. On 18 January 2018, the Inquiry revealed that he had infiltrated anarchist groups from 1979 to 1984.<ref>[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/cover-names/ Cover Names], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 18 January 2018 (accessed 19 January 2018).</ref> And in March 2018, the chair revealed that as 'Thorley', he had operated as a  writer for the anarchist periodical Freedom in the 1970s and ’80s.<ref>Undercover Policing Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/cover-names/ Cover names], updated 20 March 2018, (accessed March 2018)</ref>
+On 29 March 2017, the Inquiry into Undercover Policing announced that Roger Pearce would not be seeking anonymity as a former undercover officer, and revealed that his cover name had been 'Roger Thorley'.<ref name="ucpi.29-3-17">Undercover Policing Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/20170329-press-notice-Pearce.pdf No anonymity sought for Roger Pearce], ucpi.org.uk, 29 March 2017 (accessed 29 March 2017).</ref> The first announcement said he had been an undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad from 1978 - 1980,<ref name="ucpi.29-3-17"/> In 2018, further details were released and earlier mistakes - as noted by Rob Evans, see above - corrected: Pearce's deployment had been longer. On 18 January 2018, the Inquiry revealed that he had infiltrated anarchist groups from 1979 to 1984.<ref>[https://www.ucpi.org.uk/cover-names/ Cover Names], ''Undercover Policing Inquiry'', 18 January 2018 (accessed 19 January 2018).</ref> And in March 2018, the chair revealed that as 'Thorley', he had operated as a  writer for the anarchist periodical Freedom in the 1970s and 1980s, as detailed above.<ref>Undercover Policing Inquiry, [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/cover-names/ Cover names], updated 20 March 2018, (accessed March 2018)</ref>
 Pearce is not a core participant in the Inquiry,<ref name="ucpi.29-3-17"/> and neither his name or cipher has otherwise appeared in documents released by the Inquiry. <ref>See for example, the [https://www.ucpi.org.uk/core-participants/ list of core participants] released by the Pitchford Inquiry (accessed October 2016).</ref>