Bob Lambert Gallery

This article is part of the Undercover Research Portal at Powerbase - investigating corporate and police spying on activists

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Part of a series on undercover police officers
Robert Lambert
Alias:	Bob Robinson
Deployment:	1983 or 1984 until 1988
Unit:	Special Demonstration Squad
Targets:	Animal liberation and anti-authoritarian movements

This page brings together all the publicly available photographs of Bob Lambert as 'Bob Robinson’ and Bob Lambert in his later life. Almost all extant publicly available pictures of Lambert not in his ‘Bob Robinson’ persona are from his years as a ‘public person’; that is to say as an academic towards the end of or after his service in the Metropolitan Police. Any photographs of Bob Lambert pictured earlier than 2007 would be most gratefully received.

Where known, any date, location, subject and rights information will be given with a picture. Corrections and additions welcome, if you know when and where a photo was taken, or if you have material to add to the gallery, please get in touch.

Also see main page Bob Lambert and Bob Lambert Career Timeline

Bob Lambert as Bob Robinson Gallery

Exposure by London Greenpeace and first reports - October 2011

When former members of London Greenpeace exposed Bob Lambert as a former police infiltrator at the ‘One Society Many Cultures’ anti-racism conference he was due to speak at on 15 October 2011, they also handed out an illustrated leaflet entitled The truth about Bob Lambert and his Special Branch role. The leaflet, along with an account of the ambush, was posted to Indymedia the same day.

A photograph from the hand-out, of Lambert as ‘Robinson’ participating in a picket against dairy products company Unigate outside the London Dorchester Hotel in September 1984, was then republished alongside an article in The Guardian on 16 October 2011. The photos of Lambert in green were taken by Martyn Lowe at his house in East Twickenham, he considered himself a good friend. The first was used to expose Lambert, the second with a wider frame was published by The Guardian on 23 October 2011. More recently, a photo turned up that was taken a few moments apart.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ at the London Greenpeace protest outside Dorchester Hotel, London, 4 September 1984. Copyright Martyn Lowe.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ over for diner at Martyn Lowe's house, second week of September 1984. Copyright Martyn Lowe.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ in Sep 1985, at Martyn Lowe's house in East Twickenham. Copyright Martyn Lowe.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ in Sep 1985, Copyright Martyn Lowe.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ in Sep 1985. Copyright Martyn Lowe.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, unknown date, unknown location.

More relationships - June 2013

Early 2012, The Guardian reported how Lambert had entered into intimate relationships with several women whilst he was undercover, and had borne a son with one of them. The paper published a photograph of ‘Robinson’ holding his son.

The following summer The Guardian published a story detailing the intimate relationships with targets which undercover officers embarked upon. Illustrating the story was a picture of Lambert with his then-girlfriend Belinda Harvey (AKA ‘Karen’). Shortly afterwards, to tie in with the publication of the Evans & Lewis book Undercover, The Guardian published both an interview with Jacqui, the animal rights activist with whom he had a son, and a gallery of pictures of various undercover police officers. Together the features included three photos of Lambert.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ holding his son, possibly 1986, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, holding his newborn son in the maternity ward, September 1985. Copyright Jacqui.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ embracing girlfriend Belinda Harvey (AKA ‘Karen’), possibly 1988, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, unknown date, unknown location, wider frame of picture published before.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, handing out London Greenpeace leaflets outside a branch of McDonald's, October 1986, unknown location.

Dispatches: The Police's Dirty Secret, Channel 4, 24 June 2013

Guardian, journalist Paul Lewis also worked with Channel 4 documentary strand Dispatches to produce an episode on the ongoing undercover policing scandal entitled ‘The Police's Dirty Secret’, which was broadcast on 24 June 2013. As well as featuring Bob Lambert's former protégé turned SDS whistle-blower Peter Francis, both of ‘Bob Robinson’'s long-term partners from his undercover tour, Jacqui and Belinda Harvey, also gave onscreen interviews. A large number of previously unpublished still photographs of ‘Robinson’ from his time in the mid-80s animal liberation scene were shown.

In a report on the growing campaign to have Lambert sacked from his position at London Metropolitan University, a BBC News package included a still photograph of ‘Bob Robinson’ with a small child. No further details about it are known.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert mowing a lawn as ‘Bob Robinson’, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert in the driver's seat of a van as ‘Bob Robinson’, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ with girlfriend Belinda Harvey, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’ with girlfriend Belinda Harvey, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, mid-1980s, possibly at Glastonbury Festival.

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  Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, mid-1980s, unknown location.

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  via BBC: Bob Lambert as ‘Bob Robinson’, 1980s, unknown location (child cropped out).

Bob Lambert as a Public Person Gallery

This section brings together a number of publicly available photographs of Robert Lambert from both before and after his exposure as a former police infiltrator. Where known, any date, location, subject and rights information will be given with a picture.

Islamic Human Rights Commission's 10th anniversary, 11 November 2007

Shortly before his retirement from the Metropolitan Police in December 2007, Lambert was invited to the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, where he was presented with an award for his work with IHRC and the wider Muslim community. The award was inscribed “In appreciation for his integrity and commitment to promoting a fair, just and secure society for all, which, is a rarity and will be greatly missed”.

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  Lambert receiving an award from the Islamic Human Rights Commission Date: 11 November 2007. Location: London Muslim Centre, Whitechapel, East London. Source: Innovative Minds website.

‘Stop Islamophobia, Defend the Muslim Community’ conference (5 June 2010)

In June 2010 Lambert was a prominently featured speaker at an anti-Islamophobia conference organised by the Stop The War Coalition and the British Muslim Initiative (and supported by CND, Cordoba Foundation, Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Islam Channel, Islamic Forum of Europe, Islamophobia Watch, London Muslim Centre, Muslim Welfare House, National Union of Journalists, North London Central Mosque, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Unite). Fellow speakers included Imran Khan, the lawyer for the family of Stephen Lawrence, and Lambert defender Daud Abdullah.

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  Screengrab of Lambert from video of ‘Stop Islamophobia, Defend the Muslim Community’ one-day conference, Camden Centre, North London, 5 June 2010.

Book launch (7 September 2011)

Lambert's book, Countering Al-Qaeda in London: Police and Muslims in Partnership, is presented at the Houses of Parliament, hosted by Jeremy Corbyn MP, Cordoba Foundation and the Council for Arab-British Understanding, organised by the “sophisticated and focused public affairs company” Raitt Orr & Associates. Photo from The Tanjara webblog in a report of the event.

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  Dr Robert Lambert book presentation, 7 Sep 2011, Portcullis House, Westminster, hosted by Jerymy Corbyn MP.

Book launch (19 September 2011)

Presentation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies at the occasion of the publishing of his book Countering Al-Qaeda. The meeting was chaired by Nigel Inkster, Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk. Listen to the discussion here.

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  Dr Robert Lambert, IISS at the launch of his new book Countering Al-Qaeda on 19 September 2011.

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  Dr Robert Lambert, IISS at the launch of his new book Countering Al-Qaeda on 19 September 2011.

Exposure and Post-exposure, October 2011 and onwards

Exposure

Lambert's final public appearance before his exposure was as a platform speaker at the Unite Against Fascism/One Society Many Cultures-organised one-day anti-racism conference held in London, 15 October 2011. Outraged that a police spied, who had infiltrated and disrupted anti-fascist groups, was now afforded a platform at an anti-racist event by organisers oblivious of his past, a group of five former London Greenpeace activists decided to attend. After Lambert had finished his presentation, the London Greenpeace veterans began to heckle him from the floor, demanding that he acknowledge that he had been a police spy. Lambert kept his counsel and slipped out of the conference venue - the headquarters of the British trade union movement, Congress House in Central London - only to be followed onto the street by the activists, who continued to film him whilst demanding an apology from him for spying on them.

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  Screengrab from London Greenpeace filming of Bob Lambert speaking at Unite Against Fascism/One Society Many Cultures anti-racism conference at Congress House in Central London, 15 October 2011.

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  Screengrab from London Greenpeace filming of Bob Lambert following his exposure at Unite Against Fascism/One Society Many Cultures anti-racism conference, 15 October 2011.

Post-exposure television exposure, 30 June/1 July 2013

The only broadcast interview with Bob Lambert following his exposure in October 2011 was with Andy Davies for Channel 4 News, possibly filmed at his home. It should be noted that having remained silent - apart from a response to SpinWatch in October 2011 and his press release-like ‘preliminary commentary’ of February 2012 - for a year and a half, he decided to go on television just a fortnight after Caroline Lucas publicly raised the allegation that he was responsible for the 1986 Harrow Debenhams fire.

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  Still photograph to promote Channel 4 News interview with Lambert (recorded 30 June, broadcast 1 July).

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  Screengrab of Lambert from Channel 4 News interview (recorded 30 June, broadcast 1 July).

New Yorker, 25 August 2014

Using a number of photographs of both ‘Bob Robinson’ and Bob Lambert, artist Alex Williamson created this collage to illustrate an extensive article in the New Yorker magazine by Lauren Collins, which was centred around Jacqui, the animal rights activist whom Lambert seduced in the 1980s.

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  Collage of images including from New Yorker, interview with Jacqui, the mother of Lambert's son, by Lauren Collins, 25 August 2014. Copyright: Illustration by Alex Williamson (using various sources).

Bob Lambert Profile Pictures

Photographs of Lambert have graced profile pages on several websites, from before his exposure until well after it.

The Guardian website, ‘Comment is Free’ section (2009-2011)

From April 2009 The Guardian newspaper ran articles by Lambert (and sometimes co-authored by Jonathan Githens-Mazer) in the ‘Comment is Free’ section. These continued until his exposure in October 2011, with the last article being published five days later.

University of St Andrews profile (2011)

Photo for University of St Andrews staff profile page (at least as early as January 2014, and probably since 2012 or earlier).Shortly before his exposure, Lambert was interviewed by New Humanist magazine, the journal of the Rationalist Association. The article was published just after the furore about his past erupted, with an additional blog post by its author noting that “the revelations about his undercover work in the environmental movement raised questions about his work with Muslim groups after 2001, not least for the groups that actually worked in partnership with him”.

London Metropolitan University profile (2014-2015)

Initially Lambert's profile page at the John Grieve Policing Centre - where he held a post as Senior Lecturer - did not have a picture. From mid-2014, however (that is, around two-and-a-half-years after his exposure) it boasted one of Lambert's friendly face, the distinguished and experienced academic. It lasted until the end of 2015, when Lambert quit his posts at both St. Andrews and London Metropolitan universities.

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  Profile photograph used with Comment is Free articles on The Guardian website.

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  Picture accompanying Lambert's University of St. Andrews staff profile; also used by New Humanist magazine to for its November 2011 article.

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  Portrait on Lambert's London Metropolitan University website profile.

Running photos Gallery

Since retiring from the Metropolitan Police, Lambert has stayed in touch with his former Special Demonstration Squad protegé and reputed Muslim Contact Unit colleague, Jim Boyling. Sharing an interest in sport, the two attend football matches together and are both keen runners.

With Jim Boyling, 11 July 2011

Lambert has for some years been a keen runner, often together with his longtime colleague and friend Jim Boyling. This photograph is believed to be the only publicly available one showing the two of them together, taken on the day of the Nonsuch Park Relay event.

Nonsuch Parkrun, 8 December 2012

Following his exposure in October 2011, Lambert has continued to be involved in running clubs and running events. Here he can be seen participating as an event volunteer at the regular Nonsuch Parkrun in South-West London.

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  Only known publicly available picture of Bob Lambert and Jim Boyling together, posing for a running club team photograph, 11 July 2011.

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  Lambert pictured in photograph of volunteers stewarding a running event at Nonsuch Park to the south-west of London, 8 December 2012.

Other Undercover Research resources

• Bob Lambert
• Bob Lambert as Bob Robinson
• Bob Lambert Exposure and Post-Exposure
• Bob Lambert and the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
• Bob Lambert Career Timeline
• Bob Lambert Writing and Speaking
• Bob Lambert Consultancy