According to a new article in the Guardian, 8 former lovers of undercover cops have started legal action against police chiefs for the psychological suffering they've endured. The women include three former lovers of Mark "only twice" Kennedy, two former lovers of Jim Boyling, and women who had relationships with Mark Cassidy, Bob Lambert and John Barker - a name that doesn't seem to have been associated with undercover policing of activism before (but could it be this man?)

The women say that the cops "deliberately and knowingly deceived them" using them "physically and emotionally" in a manner that was "deeply degrading" for intelligence purposes. They are threatening to sue the Metropolitan police on human rights grounds for the psychiatric and psychological injuries their experiences have caused them. Police chiefs (the Guardian doesn't name them) will be sued for "assault, deceit, negligence and misfeasance in public office" They also demand full disclosure of details of the undercover officers' activities.

It is fantastic that these women have refused to be cowed by the abuse and have come together to fight back. I wish them every success and hope it is a further blow to the scum who have used and abused so many.