MI5 admits giving courts evidence based on 'lies' to protect violent neo-Nazi spy as judges weigh contempt proceedings

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

MI5 has accepted "without reservation" that senior officers repeatedly lied to three courts while shielding a violent neo-Nazi informant known as Agent X, who attacked his former partner with a machete. MI5's barrister Timothy Otty KC told a High Court panel on Friday that MI5 fully acknowledges the gravity of what happened. A three-judge panel led by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr is now deciding whether to launch contempt of court proceedings against individual officers or MI5 itself — a step that would be unprecedented in British legal history.

The lies were exposed after MI5 was found to have secretly confirmed Agent X's informant status to a BBC journalist in 2020, then falsely claimed in court it had maintained its 'neither confirm nor deny' policy.

The independent report by former deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir John Goldring found Officer 2 lied repeatedly, Officer 3 misled colleagues, and identified 'serious and systemic failures' across MI5.

One officer has since resigned and another is suspended — but judges have been told Director General Sir Ken McCallum himself should personally face contempt proceedings.