Police spy was 'cruel liar', says woman deceived into affair

An undercover police officer who deceived at least four women into sexual relationships and fathered a child with one of them is a "cruel and manipulative" liar, a public inquiry has been told.

- Rob Evans

Belinda Harvey, one of the women who had an 18-month relationship with Bob Lambert without knowing his real identity, said it was "beyond comprehension" how the undercover officer had used her.

On Tuesday she told the undercover policing inquiry that she had been "completely deceived and betrayed" by Lambert after falling "head over heels" in love with him.

Harvey said Lambert acted in a "callous" way as he prepared his exit from his undercover mission for a year beforehand. During that year, he continued their relationship and told her that he loved her, even though he knew he was going to leave her.

Lambert's five-year deployment as an undercover officer in the 1980s was seen as a major success by police chiefs. He was given a Metropolitan police commissioner's commendation for helping to secure the arrests of animal rights campaigners.