The Times - UK (2022-01-26)

the times | Wednesday January 26 2022 19

News

An environmental activist who was
deceived into a relationship with an
undercover officer that lasted nearly
two years has been awarded almost
£230,000 compensation.
Kate Wilson won a landmark tribu-
nal case against the Metropolitan
Police for breaches of her human rights.
Wilson, 41, began a relationship with
Mark Stone shortly after first meeting
him in 2003 and had a “whirlwind
romance” for more than a year before
they split amicably in 2005, when she
moved to Spain. In 2010, Wilson found

W

ith a

habit of

doodling

in class

when he

was bored, Joe Whale

was regularly told off by

his teachers (Neil

Johnston writes).

Now, however, the

schoolboy’s creative

abstractedness has paid

off after he signed a

lucrative deal with the

sports giant Nike.

Whale, 12, from

Shrewsbury, was sent to

an after-school art club

by his parents when he

was scolded for drawing

during lessons.

After setting up an

Instagram account for

his artwork, he soon

attracted fans from

around the world,

including the Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge.

Joe, who is known as

“The Doodle Boy” and

who has nearly 120,

followers on Instagram,

has since landed a deal

to illustrate a series of

children’s books and has

decorated hospitals and

restaurants. He was also

hired by Prince William

and his wife to record

one of their tours in

December 2020.

Joe, who started

drawing and painting

drawing when he was

about three years old,

has now been signed by

the multibillion-dollar

sports brand Nike. He

will become a

“co-creator” to promote

Nike online and

encourage children to

be more creative.

“This is one of my

dreams,” Joe said. “Nike

is such a big thing and

there’ll be loads of fun

stuff coming up soon

that I’m really excited

for. I just keep telling

myself: do what you love,

do what you love,

doodle. It feels very

good. I’m really proud of

myself. I don’t really

think about what I’m

doing, I just go ahead

with it and just create

from my mind. I don’t

really plan, I just do

what I’m feeling.

“I spend one or two

hours a day drawing,

sometimes more —

when I wake up in the

morning, near

lunchtime and in the

afternoon.”

Joe’s first book, Game

of Scones, is a fiction

story for children

written by Eric Luper

and featuring his

illustrations.

“When I’m angry I go

to my room and start

doodling,” Joe said. “It

makes me feel happy. It

is one of the most

relaxing things I do.”

His father, Greg

Whale, 42, said: “The

story started with him

not getting enough art at

school. We put him in

an art class and the

tutor noticed he was

talented. We posted

some of Joe’s work

online and he ended up

doing something for a

restaurant.”

In 2020 for Father’s

Day Joe made his father

a customised pair of

Nike trainers featuring

his doodles and the

brand spotted his work

online. “They saw Joe

and how positive he was

and what an inspiration

he was,” his father said.

Doodle

boy strikes

art deal

with Nike

Joe Whale, whose fans

include the Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge, will

promote Nike online and

use his art to encourage

children to be creative

TRISTAN POTTER/SWNS

Payout for activist duped by undercover police

out that he was a married police officer

called Mark Kennedy, who had been

sent to spy on activists as part of the

Met’s National Public Order Intelli-

gence Unit (NPOIU).

On Monday, the Investigatory

Powers Tribunal ordered the Met and

the National Police Chiefs Council to

pay a total of £229,471.96 to Wilson

“by way of just satisfaction for the

breaches” under the European Con-

vention on Human Rights.

Helen Ball, the Met’s assistant com-

missioner for professionalism, said: “In

entering into a sexual relationship,

Kennedy’s actions went against the

training and guidelines undercover

officers received at the time.

“However, the tribunal found that

the training was inadequate and more

should have been done to consider

the risks of male undercover officers

forming relationships with women. We

accept these findings.”

Kennedy had sexual relationships

with as many as ten other women dur-

ing his deployment, including one with

a woman known only as “Lisa”, which

lasted for six years before she discov-

ered a passport in his real name.

He was one of half a dozen under-

cover officers from the NPOIU or its

“sister unit”, the Special Demonstration

Squad, which Wilson came into contact

with between 1998 and 2010.

Wilson had brought legal action

against the Met and the NPCC for

breaches of her right to freedom from

inhuman and degrading treatment, her

right to privacy, and her right to free-

dom of expression. In a statement is-

sued through the Police Spies Out of

Lives group, Wilson said: “It is impor-

tant to note the IPT compensation is

not about the relationship I was de-

ceived into by Mark Kennedy. That was

settled in a civil claim back in 2017.

“It is compensation for the parts of

the claim that the police denied right up

to the end — how complicit Mark’s

managers were, and the role of five

other undercover officers in violating

my political rights, and the fact that

they dragged out those denials for ten

years.”

Chief Constable Alan Pughsley, the

NPCC lead for undercover policing,

said: “Significant work has been under-

taken to ensure undercover officers and

those authorising their deployment

understand the legal limits within

which they operate... and the need to

minimise collateral intrusion into the

private lives of others.”

Charlie Moloney