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Book: Undercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret Police by Paul Lewis, Rob Evans
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Authors: Paul Lewis, Rob Evans
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he probably had his undercover operation in mind when he decided to have the child. To penetrate groups like the Animal Liberation Front, his fake persona had to be totally believable. The child, his son, was a convenient prop.
Initially, Lambert gave every impression of being a devoted father. For a few months he betrayed no hint that he wouldvanish from the family’s life, doting on the boy and supporting Charlotte. He took the child with him on father and son outings and spent most of his spare time with his new young family. One photograph from the time shows Lambert and other activists building an animal sanctuary. They are in a muddy construction site, pushing wheelbarrows and carrying planks of wood. Lambert is leaning against a wall, holding his son in one arm and staring at the ground.
Lambert knew he would need to terminate his relationship with Charlotte and prepare the ground for his departure months or even years before he disappeared. In 1987, at the height of his infiltration of the Animal Liberation Front, Lambert became more distant from the mother of his child. One of the perceived strains on their relationship was lack of money. Charlotte came from an unstable background and was struggling to support herself and their newborn son. Lambert claimed never to earn much in wages from his cash-in-hand jobs doing bits gardening and cabbing. Besides, he told Charlotte that his efforts were better spent campaigning against animal cruelty.
Friends of Charlotte recall how she was initially happy to take the greater responsibility for earning money, allowing Lambert to dedicate his time to politics. After a period on benefits, she took on some part-time work, making arrangements for friends and family to look after the baby. But Charlotte could not escape the feeling that Lambert should have done more to provide for them. It was a constant source of friction. Another reason for the arguments was more intimate. Eighteen months after the birth of his son, Lambert was complaining that Charlotte was neglecting their sex life. ‘The relationship was a slow death – arguments, scenes, all the things of a breakdown of a relationship,’ says a friend of the couple.
Charlotte believes that Lambert deliberately provoked her and started wearing her down, causing arguments when therewas no reason to quarrel. ‘With the benefit of hindsight I can now see how he orchestrated the breakdown of our relationship,’ Charlotte says. ‘It was a very hard time for me.’
Desperate, she would shout at the father of her son and say she was disappointed in him, that she needed him to start working to put food on the table. Friends recall how Lambert remained calm, even Zen-like, and refused to talk to her unless she calmed down. ‘That would make her even more wild, as you could never wind Bob up,’ the friend adds.
*
Charlotte was one of four sexual relationships Lambert had when he was undercover. A second was little more than a one-night stand, and a third lasted some months. His fourth intimate relationship was curious because it was not with an overtly political campaigner, but a woman who Lambert believed could lend his undercover identity further credibility.
Karen met Lambert at a party in Tottenham in north London in May 1987, around the time his relationship with Charlotte was falling apart. Karen was a 24-year-old who had come to the capital to find work and was intrigued by Lambert’s endearing smile. They fell easily into conversation and before long, she was smitten. Evidence of the love she felt for Lambert rolls easily off her tongue. He was, Karen says, ‘polite, considerate, very romantic , attentive, charismatic’. She recalls he smiled a lot and was non-judgmental. And he was cute. ‘I thought I had found my Mr Right. He was very charming and I thought I could take him to meet my parents,’ she says. Throughout their 18-month relationship , she was struck by one particular trait in the man she knew as
Initially, Lambert gave every impression of being a devoted father. For a few months he betrayed no hint that he wouldvanish from the family’s life, doting on the boy and supporting Charlotte. He took the child with him on father and son outings and spent most of his spare time with his new young family. One photograph from the time shows Lambert and other activists building an animal sanctuary. They are in a muddy construction site, pushing wheelbarrows and carrying planks of wood. Lambert is leaning against a wall, holding his son in one arm and staring at the ground.
Lambert knew he would need to terminate his relationship with Charlotte and prepare the ground for his departure months or even years before he disappeared. In 1987, at the height of his infiltration of the Animal Liberation Front, Lambert became more distant from the mother of his child. One of the perceived strains on their relationship was lack of money. Charlotte came from an unstable background and was struggling to support herself and their newborn son. Lambert claimed never to earn much in wages from his cash-in-hand jobs doing bits gardening and cabbing. Besides, he told Charlotte that his efforts were better spent campaigning against animal cruelty.
Friends of Charlotte recall how she was initially happy to take the greater responsibility for earning money, allowing Lambert to dedicate his time to politics. After a period on benefits, she took on some part-time work, making arrangements for friends and family to look after the baby. But Charlotte could not escape the feeling that Lambert should have done more to provide for them. It was a constant source of friction. Another reason for the arguments was more intimate. Eighteen months after the birth of his son, Lambert was complaining that Charlotte was neglecting their sex life. ‘The relationship was a slow death – arguments, scenes, all the things of a breakdown of a relationship,’ says a friend of the couple.
Charlotte believes that Lambert deliberately provoked her and started wearing her down, causing arguments when therewas no reason to quarrel. ‘With the benefit of hindsight I can now see how he orchestrated the breakdown of our relationship,’ Charlotte says. ‘It was a very hard time for me.’
Desperate, she would shout at the father of her son and say she was disappointed in him, that she needed him to start working to put food on the table. Friends recall how Lambert remained calm, even Zen-like, and refused to talk to her unless she calmed down. ‘That would make her even more wild, as you could never wind Bob up,’ the friend adds.
*
Charlotte was one of four sexual relationships Lambert had when he was undercover. A second was little more than a one-night stand, and a third lasted some months. His fourth intimate relationship was curious because it was not with an overtly political campaigner, but a woman who Lambert believed could lend his undercover identity further credibility.
Karen met Lambert at a party in Tottenham in north London in May 1987, around the time his relationship with Charlotte was falling apart. Karen was a 24-year-old who had come to the capital to find work and was intrigued by Lambert’s endearing smile. They fell easily into conversation and before long, she was smitten. Evidence of the love she felt for Lambert rolls easily off her tongue. He was, Karen says, ‘polite, considerate, very romantic , attentive, charismatic’. She recalls he smiled a lot and was non-judgmental. And he was cute. ‘I thought I had found my Mr Right. He was very charming and I thought I could take him to meet my parents,’ she says. Throughout their 18-month relationship , she was struck by one particular trait in the man she knew as
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