MI5 accepts giving false evidence in neo-Nazi spy abuse case
Security service concedes lies to three courts about informant's status while defending agent accused of abusing girlfriend.
What to know
- MI5 formally accepted Friday that it gave false evidence to three courts about maintaining secrecy regarding a neo-Nazi informant's agent status—the first time the service has admitted the lies revealed by the BBC in February 2025.
- A panel of three senior judges is now considering whether to bring contempt of court proceedings against MI5 officers or the service itself, a move that would be unprecedented in British law.
- Officer 2 has resigned and Officer 3 is suspended pending disciplinary proceedings, though both deny dishonesty; MI5 is pushing for reform rather than contempt action, while the BBC argues proceedings should proceed.
- The scandal centers on an abuse victim kept from information about her attacker's agent status because MI5 falsely claimed to have maintained its 'neither confirm nor deny' policy—while actually having disclosed the status to the BBC in 2020.
“He said the evidence presented by Sir John fell short of the threshold for contempt of court, and said such proceedings would not be in the public interest.”
Aaron Watkins (for Officer 3), Officer 3's counsel · BBC News ↗
MI5 (Security Service) defendantOfficer 2 MI5 officer (unnamed)Officer 3 MI5 officer (unnamed)BBC investigator and party to proceedingsSir John Goldring then-deputy investigatory powers commissionerLady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr senior judge
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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MI5 commits to reform; BBC pushes for contempt proceedings
MI5 announced a major reform programme under director general Sir Ken McCallum and argued against contempt proceedings, saying they would not serve the public interest. However, the BBC's lawyers argued that the threshold for contempt had been met and that there was 'very clear public interest' in bringing proceedings.
“MI5 fully accepts and acknowledges the gravity of the issues raised in the report, published in July, and they must never happen again.”
— Timothy Otty KC -
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So after denying heir officers lied to courts, the MI5 has now admitted that it has presented untruthful 'evidence'; quite apart from the particularities of this case, what will strike many is that MI5 often offers 'secret' evidence which is unable;e to be tested in terrorism-related cases cannot be probed or tested in court. This has always…
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
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"It is the first time MI5 has accepted that lies were told to the courts while defending a violent neo-Nazi spy whose abuse was uncovered by the BBC." https://www. bbc.com/news/articles/c3j4jz07 e2v8o # UK # Nazis # Fascism # Law # Perjury # MI5
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# BBCNews - MI5 accepts it gave evidence based on lies in neo-Nazi spy case https://www. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3j4jz 07e2v8o
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Officer 2 resigns; Officer 3 suspended pending discipline — MI5's counsel stated that Officer 2 has resigned from the service and Officer 3 has been suspended with disciplinary proceedings pending that could lead to dismissal. However, both officers' legal representatives disputed the report's findings and denied dishonesty.
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MI5 accepts false evidence findings in High Court hearing — Timothy Otty KC, representing MI5, announced during a High Court hearing in London that MI5 accepts without reservation the findings that it gave false evidence to courts. A panel of three senior judges—including Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr—is now considering whether to initiate contempt of court proceedings, which would be unprecedented.
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Investigatory powers commissioner's report finds systemic MI5 failures — Sir John Goldring, then-deputy investigatory powers commissioner, published a damning report finding that MI5 gave evidence based on lies to three courts. The report identified that Officer 2 lied repeatedly and Officer 3 misled colleagues and lied about what he was told, while also documenting 'serious and systemic failures in MI5's conduct' throughout the case.
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BBC reveals MI5 gave false evidence to courts — The BBC published an investigation revealing that MI5 had lied to courts about maintaining its 'neither confirm nor deny' policy regarding the neo-Nazi informant's status. MI5 vehemently denied the allegations at the time.
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MI5 discloses agent status to BBC while denying it in court — MI5 revealed the neo-Nazi informant's agent status in phone calls to BBC journalists in 2020 while attempting to persuade them not to investigate him. Simultaneously, MI5 was claiming to courts that it maintained 'neither confirm nor deny' secrecy about the agent's status.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Anadolu Agency, 5d ago · also BBC
1 more headline
- MI5 accepts it gave evidence based on lies in neo-Nazi spy case Mastodon · 3d ago
What people are saying 2 voices from 1 site · best of 5 · verbatim
- Sep 19
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MI5 core secrecy policy - known as 'neither confirm nor deny' (NCND) The security service claimed it had maintained NCND and, consequently, the courts allowed it to keep information secret from a woman who was abused by him. context: The case centres around the foreign neo-Nazi misogynist - an MI5 informant known as Agent X who used his security…
- Sep 18
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# BBC # News MI5 accepts it gave evidence based on lies in neo-Nazi spy case