Undercover police can have sex 'when necessary'

New guidelines say it is 'never acceptable' for officers to start relationships with people they are investigating

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(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

New guidelines for undercover police state that officers must never start relationships with members of the groups they infiltrate and should only have sex if they face a threat to their safety in not doing so.

The College of Policing has gone public with its 80-page document after eight women sued when they discovered they had relationships - and children - with men they did not know to be officers. The women, who began legal action in 2011, had been associates or members of social justice and environmental campaign groups.

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