The Director General of MI5 has apologised to a woman known as ‘Beth’ after she suffered years of abuse at the hands of a neo-Nazi informant employed by the Security Service. The apology follows findings that the agency provided false evidence to three courts in an attempt to contain the fallout.

On Tuesday, Sir Ken McCallum confirmed that the agency had settled Beth’s legal claim before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which is the specialist court for handling allegations against the UK’s intelligence services. The settlement includes a confidential damages payment and a private apology. However, MI5 states that it was made ‘without admission of liability’.

Beth’s former partner, known as X, was a paid MI5 informant. Evidence, including video footage, showed he had attacked her with a machete. He had previously been reported to an overseas police force over serious domestic violence allegations against a former partner.

Beth’s case caught public attention through a BBC investigation which MI5 actively sought to suppress. In 2022, then Attorney General Suella Braverman obtained an injunction preventing the BBC from identifying X as a covert source, relying on false evidence from MI5. That position unravelled in 2024 when the BBC revealed a recorded 2020 conversation in which a senior MI5 officer discussed X’s role in detail with a journalist. The BBC have reported on how courts were ultimately misled.

Despite the settlement, Beth made clear she does not regard the matter as closed. In response, she said, ‘I feel very strongly that, in spite of this apology, MI5 are still protecting this violent misogynistic predator as for years now they have refused to answer any questions about him’.

Kate Ellis of the Centre for Women’s Justice, representing Beth, said a full hearing would have been ‘highly embarrassing for MI5’ and urged the state to ‘reconsider using women as collateral in covert operations’. Dame Vera Baird, chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, said the case bore the hallmarks of a ‘dishonest cover-up deliberately intended to deceive this victim’.

Multiple investigations remain ongoing into how MI5 submitted false evidence across three sets of legal proceedings, and whether those responsible should face contempt of court proceedings. The Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office was expected to finalise a draft report this month. Separate High Court proceedings also continue.