SPYCOP operations against left-wing activists over a 14-year period were unjustifiable and potentially unlawful, a public inquiry’s legal team has concluded.

The inquiry, headed by retired judge Sir John Mitting, said yesterday that officers serving in the Metropolitan Police’s special demonstration squad (SDS) between 1968 and 1982 had violated democratic freedoms and caused a lot of harm.

Officers in the secret Scotland Yard unit, which continued to operate until 2008, spent years undercover, hoovering up personal information and forming close relationships with their targets.