- Published
The security service has accepted it gave evidence based on lies to three courts and that senior MI5 officers were repeatedly dishonest.
asserted
officers → publish → courts
It is the first time MI5 has accepted that lies were told to the courts and confirms the BBC's revelation about what happened.
asserted
what → accept → revelation
The lies were revealed in February 2025, which the security service then vehemently denied.
asserted
service → reveal → which
Timothy Otty KC, representing MI5, announced the position during a High Court hearing in London on Friday.
asserted
KC → represent → Friday
Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr, President of the King's Bench Division Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Chamberlain - is considering what action to take over the false evidence.
asserted
Carr → consider → evidence
In particular, the judges will decide whether to initiate contempt of court proceedings against certain MI5 officers or MI5 itself.
asserted
judges → decide → officers
The hearing follows a damning official report, published in July, which concluded that MI5 gave evidence based on "lies" to three courts while defending a violent neo-Nazi spy whose abuse was uncovered by the BBC.
asserted
abuse → follow → BBC
The report, by the then deputy investigatory powers commissioner Sir John Goldring, heavily criticised a series of senior MI5 figures and their organisation.
asserted
report → criticise → figures
He found that one senior MI5 spy - known as Officer 2 - lied repeatedly, while another - Officer 3 - misled his own colleagues and lied about what he was told.
He also found there were "serious and systemic failures in MI5's conduct" throughout the case.
asserted
He → find → case
Sir John's investigation was ordered by the prime minister in September 2025 after MI5's explanations about what happened were rejected as deficient and unreliable by the High Court.
asserted
what → order → Court
In court on Friday, Otty announced that "MI5 accepts without reservation" Sir John's findings, including about the actions of individual officers and "systemic failure" within the organisation itself.
asserted
MI5 → announce → organisation
Until now, MI5 had only offered apologies for giving "incorrect" evidence.
asserted
MI5 → offer → evidence
He said MI5 "fully accepts and acknowledges the gravity of the issues raised" and they must never happen again.
asserted
they → say → issues
He added that MI5 had committed to a major programme of reform under the leadership of director general Sir Ken McCallum.
asserted
MI5 → add → McCallum
Otty argued against contempt of court proceedings being brought, saying it would not be in the public interest given the detailed Goldring investigation, MI5's apologies, and its commitment to a programme of reform.
asserted
it → argue → reform
He said Officer 2 had resigned from the service and that Officer 3 had been suspended and was facing disciplinary proceedings, which could lead to his dismissal.
uncertain
which → say → dismissal
The court will hear legal submissions later on Friday from barristers for the BBC and Officers 2 and 3.
asserted
court → hear → BBC
The case centres around an MI5 informant known as Agent X, a foreign neo-Nazi misogynist who used his security service role as a tool of abuse.
asserted
who → centre → abuse
He coercively controlled his partner, known by the alias Beth, and attacked her with a machete.
asserted
He → control → machete
MI5 then helped him go abroad to continue intelligence work while under police investigation.
asserted
him → help → investigation
The government took the BBC to court in 2022 in a failed attempt to block its investigation into X, but won him legal anonymity.
asserted
government → take → anonymity
Beth then sued MI5 at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, and in 2024 she sought a review of a ruling at the High Court.
asserted
she → sue → Court
Arguing for secrecy in all three courts, the security service told judges that it had always stuck to its core secrecy policy and never told anyone whether X was an agent, including me - as the BBC journalist who had investigated him.
asserted
who → argue → him
The courts were told this in a sworn statement from a senior officer, a deputy director called Witness A.
The courts accepted MI5's arguments.
asserted
courts → tell → arguments
This meant Beth and everyone else was banned from ever officially being told X was an agent and denied access to the key evidence.
asserted
X → mean → evidence
She was left at a serious disadvantage and may have lost the case.
uncertain
She → leave → case
But what MI5 said was untrue.
asserted
said → say → what
MI5 had in fact disclosed the man's agent status in phone calls to me, as it tried to persuade me not to investigate him in 2020.
asserted
it → disclose → 2020
Officer 2 had tried to cover up for the man, falsely saying he was not an abusive misogynist nor a real extremist.
asserted
he → try → man
Following the court decision, in late 2024, I challenged MI5 and said they had lied to the courts.
asserted
they → follow → courts
MI5 aggressively maintained its position that its "neither confirm nor deny" policy (known as NCND) had been maintained until I produced evidence proving it was untrue, including a recording of one of the calls with Officer 2.
asserted
it → maintain → Officer
Because of the BBC's revelations, two official inquiries took place which absolved MI5 and its officers of deliberate wrongdoing, claiming the false evidence was down to mistakes and poor memories.
But, in July 2025, a panel of senior High Court judges ruled that the investigations carried out by MI5 suffered from "serious procedural deficiencies" and that "we cannot rely on their conclusions", leading to Sir John's investigation and Friday's hearing.
asserted
we → take → investigation
The Aporia
