MI5 found a guard who knew the agent was a misogynist ‘obsessed with violence’

IPCO – which oversees the use of covert investigative powers, including the UK’s intelligence agencies – concluded.

– “Strong signs” of Agent X’s penchant for violence, including video footage of him threatening his girlfriend with a machete, did not lead to MI5’s assessment of his suitability as an agent. “He had to,” IPCO said.

– Agent X was “clearly at odds” with his MI5 supervisors, who knew he was involved in an “art-picking” operation to exploit women for sex, but “none of this attracted much attention” from his supervisors.

– MI5 knew Agent X was “obsessed” with violence, because he had told them, and there were indications that he might be a threat to others “because of his general penchant for extreme violence”. But the IPCO said there was a “lack of sufficient professional curiosity” about it by MI5.

In a statement to the BBC, IPCO said the inspection “identified serious weaknesses in MI5’s management of Agent X” and “requested that MI5 take action to address these weaknesses”.

IPCO added: “MI5 subsequently made significant changes to its policies, practices and procedures, which have been tested in subsequent inspections.

“MI5’s work in this area is ongoing and IPCO will continue to monitor this through its robust inspection programme.”