Power station protesters invited to appeal convictions

Twenty-nine people convicted following protests at a power station, where a Metropolitan Police officer was working undercover, have been invited to appeal against their convictions.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, said that there were concerns about the safety of the prosecutions secured after the Drax Power Station protest in North Yorkshire in 2008 because lawyers may have failed to disclose information about the activities of undercover cop Mark Kennedy.

He has also asked the Metropolitan Police to examine records of all operations involving Mark Kennedy which led to convictions and to see if there are any further cases involving undercover officers that might need to be examined.

Kennedy spent seven years posing as a long-haired drop-out climber, Mark "Flash" Stone. His actions have been blamed for the collapse last year of a case against six protesters accused of planning to invade the coal-fired Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire.

The Metropolitan Police has released the following statement: