Bob Lambert deceived more than four women into sexual relationships – despite his claims otherwise – boasted about his illegal activities and tried to involve/entrap others in such actions.
He used his undercover flat to meet women through lonely hearts columns, writing them heavily romantic letters; put in an effort to get together with me, contrary to what he said; encouraged me to be involved in unlawful activity; asked me about people he could involve in illegal actions; and bragged about escaping after being seen causing criminal damage.
He also gave incorrect information about me at the hearing and in his reports, I believe to make me look more suspicious and justify his spying on me. He tried to censor me and prevent investigation by withholding my details from investigators.
Given the scale of this systemic abuse, I cannot believe the undercover officers, who worked together and trained each other, did not compare notes about what they had done to women.
SEX AND MANIPULATION
Lambert made a deliberate effort to get together with me, whether it was a dinner at his flat in Highgate or at the Earth Exchange restaurant. He insisted on paying for everything (I found this uncomfortable as I’d always paid my own way).
In contrast, he reported we got together spontaneously after he drove me home from the pub, telling the inquiry how much we had had to drink and reporting ‘just sort of being invited up to her flat’. While his testimony in general seems characterised by his vague memory, he seemed to recall these things that never happened fairly well.
He had no reason to seek out a sexual relationship. We had known each other for several months and had behaved as friends.
I thought he was divorced and seeking a new social circle – he had appeared out of nowhere and thrown himself into everything – and was on the rebound. He also never asked about contraception. So not relationship material.
I had been staying at his flat when I found out he was targeting women through the lonely hearts columns. It was raining when I was about to leave, and Lambert gave me a small, pink umbrella. At first he claimed it was his, then the story came out.
It may seem strange in today’s world of online dating, but there was a huge stigma around lonely hearts columns so I was fascinated. He wasn’t going to tell anyone, he said, but he had been contacting women this way as he wanted a serious relationship, and could I keep this quiet. The woman whose umbrella I now had was one of them.
He showed me letters and photographs from women. He wrote them dramatically romantic letters, making it clear he sought a serious relationship; he did not use terms such as ‘fun and friendship’ or ‘discretion’. He was deliberately manipulating women to pull them in.
I asked why he had declared such overly romantic feelings so soon, and he said that was what women liked. Having known him for some time, I was shocked by this cold side of him.
One woman wrote to him (in so many words) that he was too deeply romantic too soon. He said he had been upset by her letter, which he showed me; he had torn it into neat, little squares – and taped them precisely back together.
At a later date, he told me he was continuing to meet women through the columns. There are women out there who were taken advantage of by this nasty piece of work.
SET UP FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Lambert was proud of his politics and activism. He said he was a true anarchist as he neither paid tax nor claimed benefits. He encouraged me to become more involved in activism.
He boasted about his criminal activity, as mentioned above, even claiming to have been able to run away when spotted damaging vehicles.
One day, he asked me to accompany him to find potential targets to damage. We sat in his van, didn’t see anything and I got the impression he didn’t know what he was doing – although he later reported this incident as evidence against me. At the time, I suspected he was one of those men who exaggerate things to impress women, not that he was trying to frame me.
He also asked about people he could carry out illegal activities with. I would not be surprised if there are unsafe convictions out there related to him that have not been identified.
The last I heard was that he had fled to Spain after being involved in planting an incendiary device in a store. I was surprised to hear this as I was unaware of how involved he was – I thought he was involved in small-scale criminal damage and was more talk than anything else.
FABRICATION AND OUR MAN IN HAVANA
Although Lambert cited my attendance at London Greenpeace as evidence of my activism, he introduced me to them in the first place – I’d never heard of them before. I assume this was to make me more worth reporting on.
Rather than the aggressive anarchist group they are painted as, I found London Greenpeace were involved in a range of issues, particularly grassroots activity, and invited some interesting speakers.
His exaggerations included telling the inquiry I was in ‘close contact’ with people in certain activist groups, although this comment was demolished as being devoid of evidence at the inquiry. (His claim to have contributed to London Greenpeace’s McDonald’s leaflet was similarly pulled apart. He once showed me a McDonald’s leaflet he’d written himself – it was full of swear words apparently to entice ‘young people’ and I don’t think it ever saw the light of day.)
This reminds me of Our Man in Havana, where an ‘operative’ sends in drawings of a rocket launching pad to the intelligence services to provide his value and justify his job. The drawings are of parts of a vacuum cleaner.
Lambert’s reports show a lack of attention. In one example, he said I had a job that I never held in an office in which I have never set foot. I can only assume he looked up my employer in the phone book and guessed (wrongly) which department I was based in. There are other errors.
He claimed to ‘apologise’ to me. This adds insult to injury, given how, years down the line, he continued to lie about me for his own advantage.
INVESTIGATION BLOCKED
Lambert tried to suppress my side of the story, refusing to give my name to Operation Herne on the grounds that ‘she might not want to come forward’. So a perpetrator of sex by deception assumes the authority to speak on behalf of his victim and Herne, as far as I know, went along with it.
He also claims to have been unsure of my name. This is utterly unconvincing given how long I had known him for; the only time he visited me at home, he was not with me but dropped in so he must have had my name and address written down; plus he passed on two of my addresses in reports.
In addition, he reported on London Greenpeace meetings where police collected attendee names (including real names of those known by nicknames). So attention was paid to who people were.
TRUST DESTROYED
It’s very hard to describe how harrowing this has been – and I am a minor figure. Other women have it so much worse. It was a long time before I could tell anyone. I have not described the whole sorry story here.
Being a victim of a state operation like this, with someone acting as a friend for a long time, smashes trust. How much of my life was built on deception and lies? Were relationships – with friends/colleagues/partners – genuine? You look at people you’ve known for years and think ‘Who are you?’
And are these state-sponsored abusers feeling smug about having deceived so many women in such an ugly, personal way?
