Police officers could face prosecution for spying on Janet Alder

After a two-year investigation into allegations that Janet Alder, the sister of Christopher Alder who died in police custody, was 'improperly monitored' by police, the IPCC has passed the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service, The Guardian reports. 

This could pave the way for criminal prosecutions against the officers involved. The police are said to have spied on Alder around the time of the inquest that found that her brother had been unlawfully killed. 

Christopher Alder, a black former paratrooper, died on the floor of Queens Gardens police station in Hull after being arrested on 1 April 1998. He choked to death in handcuffs while police officers who thought he was play-acting joked around him and made monkey noises. 

The news comes in the same week that the IPCC announced that they will be widening their investigation into an alleged plot by the police to spy on Stephen Lawrence's family, again reported in The Guardian. Two more officers are now under investigation for their part in the plot, bringing the total to five. 

This IPCC investigation began a year ago after a review by Mark Ellison QC found that intelligence gathered by the police from an undercover officer may have given the Metropolitan Police a secret advantage over the family during the Macpherson inquiry and potentially undermined it. 

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Here's Janet Alder making a powerful speech about her experiences at our conference on police spying, racism and corruption held in February:

What’s The Worst That Could Happen? 

Janet Alder, sister of Christopher Alder

What's the Worst That Could Happen.

You can watch other talks from the conference here.