MI5 to pay compensation to woman abused by neo-Nazi agent

MI5 will pay compensation and has apologised to a woman who was coercively controlled and attacked with a machete by one of its agents. Her legal claim followed a BBC investigation four years ago, which showed that the man, known publicly as Agent X, was a neo-Nazi misogynist who used his security service role as a tool of abuse. The BBC found he used his status to abuse his partner, known by the alias Beth, before he moved abroad, while under police investigation, to continue intelligence work. After subsequently failing in court to discredit Beth, MI5 recently offered to pay compensation to settle her claim. She has now accepted the offer. Kate Ellis, from the Centre for Women's Justice, who is Beth's solicitor, said: "To have this kind of outcome and to win actually against a body like MI5 who are so shrouded in secrecy and in a sense so powerful, is a huge achievement for Beth." In a statement, MI5's Director General Sir Ken McCallum said: "We sincerely apologise to Beth for the distress she has suffered because of MI5 mistakes in this litigation. "We relied on incorrect evidence and our record keeping fell well short of the standard of professionalism that we expect, and to wh