Undercover officer Bob Lambert implicated in Debenhams arson attacks
- Four witnesses have testified that Bob Lambert, an undercover officer, was involved in planning and executing arson attacks on Debenhams stores in 1987.
- The inquiry reveals that Lambert had intimate relationships with activists while concealing his identity as a police officer.
- If the allegations are true, it indicates a severe misconduct by a police officer, calling into question the ethics of undercover operations.
In 1987, in the United Kingdom, an undercover police officer, Bob Lambert, is accused of participating in arson attacks on Debenhams department stores while posing as an animal rights activist. During a public inquiry, four witnesses allege that Lambert played a pivotal role in executing the attacks, including planning and setting fire to the Harrow branch. The inquiry highlights Lambert's controversial infiltration of animal rights and anarchist groups during the 1980s, where he allegedly misled activists about his true identity and engaged in personal relationships while concealing he was a police officer. Activists, including Geoff Sheppard and Helen Steel, provided testimonies detailing Lambert's active involvement in organizing the attacks and his charisma that manipulated the group's efforts to carry them out. Lambert's actions, if proven, represent a significant breach of trust for a police officer, raising questions about the accountability and ethics within undercover policing operations. The current financial implications of the damage caused by these acts are estimated to be in the region of £960,000, bringing forth discussions about the extent of his criminal behavior and the impact on legal proceedings that followed the attacks.