Mark Kennedy tells of 'living nightmare' since trial collapse
An undercover policeman who infiltrated a group of environmental activists has said he feels suicidal in the first interview since the operation was revealed.
Mark Kennedy, a father of two, said his life has become a "living nightmare" and that his son told him he never wants to see him again.
Kennedy's secret role was revealed when a Nottingham crown court trial of six people accused of planning to invade Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station collapsed as prosecutors dropped the charges.
The protesters' legal team claimed the decision was made after Kennedy, a former Metropolitan police officer who infiltrated the group in the guise of a long-haired climber called Mark Stone, offered to give evidence on their behalf.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Kennedy said he believed tape recordings secretly made by him were withheld from the court by police for fear it would destroy the prosecution's case.
He told the paper: "The truth of the matter is that the tapes clearly show that the six defendants who were due to go on trial had not joined any conspiracy.
"The tapes I made meant that the police couldn't prove their case."
Kennedy said he was involved in five major protests, starting with one at the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005 when he passed on "invaluable" information to police about demonstrators' movements.
He said it was passed straight to Tony Blair and that he was given a commendation for his role.
He claimed he was beaten by five police officers in 2006 in a protest at Drax power station in Yorkshire after he tried to stop them hitting a female activist he knew, suffering head injuries, a prolapsed disc and b! roken fi nger.
Other protests he took part in included those at Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire in 2006, the G20 summit in London in 2008 and in Copenhagen, Denmark.
He said the fall-out from the undercover operation has left him feeling suicidal.
"I am physically and mentally exhausted," he said. "I have had some dark thoughts. I thought I could end this very quickly.
"I went to see a psychiatrist recently and told her I was having thoughts of suicide. I don't have any confidence. My world has been destroyed."
He had separated from his wife in 2000 and said his children, a girl aged 10 and a boy of 12, have been left devastated by recent events.
While posing as an activist, he said he formed strong friendships and added: "I had no other friends. I was estranged from my wife.
"My life was undercover. Of course I cared about them. But I didn't go rogue. I was immersing myself in the culture to do my job, to be credible."
He also spoke of his despair at being confronted by the environmental activists when his girlfriend discovered his passport in his real name.
Kennedy said the atmosphere at the meeting was "hugely menacing" as he was told his former friends knew the full details of his true identity.
He said: "I danced around it in circles for about four hours. It was exhausting. I cried a lot.
"It was the end of my tether. They broke me. An hour into it they brought my girlfriend in and the look of devastation on her face destroyed me. It was more than I could take."
He said he fled to the US soon after that amid fears for his safety.
Investigations into the case are now being carried out by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, with Nottinghamshire police conducting an internal review.
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