THE CREDIBILITY of the spycops inquiry lay in tatters today after a mass walkout by core participants who refused to lend the inquiry “a legitimacy it does not have and does not deserve.”

Growing frustration with inquiry chair John Mitting, who has granted full anonymity to the vast majority of undercover officers, came to a head when the core participants and their supporters left the hearing in protest at being treated as “mere window dressing.”

The inquiry into the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), which infiltrated political groups — with undercover officers often engaging in long-term sexual relationships and committing crimes to maintain their cover — has been bogged down in anonymity applications since it was established three years ago.