The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-22)

The Sunday Times May 22, 2022 2GN 5

NEWS

By the time her relationship with an abu-
sive MI5 spy ended, Beth was broken. She
had been sectioned under the Mental
Health Act, her bank account was empty
and her housing options were to stay with
an addict who sold her remaining posses-
sions for drugs or to sleep in her car.
“I had lost everything — my home, my
business, my money and my sanity,” she
said. “I lost everything due to him and his
behaviour. I wasn’t even a shadow of who
I am now. I felt like I was nothing.”
The man — for legal reasons known
only as “X” — is understood to be a covert
human intelligence source who infil-
trated extremist networks. Last week,
the BBC revealed that he had used his
role in the security services as a means to
control Beth, who alleges he sexually
assaulted and abused her during their
long-term relationship. Video shows him
attacking her with a machete and saying
he wants to murder her. One of X’s previ-
ous partners also claims he threatened to
kill her and her daughter. He is also
alleged to have expressed fantasies about
murdering Jewish people and eating the
flesh of children.
The government went to court to try to
stop the BBC broadcasting a programme
that named him and detailed his links to
MI5, claiming that it would threaten
national security. The broadcaster was
allowed to publish but could not reveal
information that might identify him.
Beth — not her real name — will keep
fighting, though. “I want his identity out
there,” she said. “I am the kind of person
who’d rather play with fire than live a
quiet life. I want justice.” With the help of
the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ)
charity, she is now taking legal action,
including lodging a complaint with the
Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT),
which hears grievances about the secu-
rity services. She also wants police to
reopen the case against her former part-
ner, arguing that his behaviour has not
been adequately investigated.
She wants the IPT to investigate MI5’s
recruitment and handling of X, and
whether any action was taken to address
the risk of harm he posed. Beth intends to
argue that MI5’s conduct may have
breached her human rights by enabling X
to subject her to abuse.
The case also shines a spotlight on the
intelligence services’ recruitment of
those who live outside the law. Whitehall

I’d be

dead if I

hadn’t

bitten

his hand

at the

last

minute

The man, known

only as X for legal

reasons, kept

Nazi memorabilia

around the home

ried out the attack, he laughed mania-

cally, like some kind of a demon. [He

seemed to be] enjoying it. That was the

first attempt on my life — there was

another with a knife, which he held right

to my throat. I would be dead if I hadn’t

bitten into his hand at the last minute.”

After one assault, she said he looked at

a photo of Heinrich Himmler, whom he

“considered a man of great strength”. He

also had photos of Saddam Hussein and

other violent figures.

The police arrested him after the

machete incident but although the case

went to court Beth was unable to testify

and the video was not played in court.

Proceedings were quickly dropped by

the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“He just comes back home, which

is appalling,” she recalled. “Normally

they make an effort to send the perpetra-

tors elsewhere. I didn’t believe it when

he walked in the front door. I had

nowhere to go, which officers knew.” The

force in question and the CPS say the case

was discontinued due to a lack of

evidence.

Beth is furious with the police, accus-

ing them of overlooking the video evi-

dence, failing to interview X about other

Nazi-obsessed spy lover tried to kill

her — and MI5 handlers did nothing

sources claim that hiring criminals can be

the only way to discover the plans and

secrets of extremist groups. Yet while MI

agents are authorised in certain circum-

stances to commit crimes as part of their

cover, this leeway should not extend to

their personal lives.

“Of course the agencies and police

may need agents to penetrate and work

alongside extremist groups, and they

may have been members of these

groups,” a Whitehall source said.

“Sometimes those agents might come

with unpleasant behaviours. It is true

that sometimes covert agents themselves

might hold distasteful views. You want to

reach people who are part of these

groups to try and disrupt them.”

Beth, who is autistic, said she cannot

believe this is what her life has become.

She describes her childhood as “nice and

middle-class”. She first met X while work-

ing abroad and they moved to the UK

together. At first she found him “charm-

ing” and thought “he wouldn’t hurt a

fly”. “He seemed like a really nice guy,”

she recalled. “He was devoted to me. It

felt good to have someone appreciate me.

That’s what narcissists do, though: they

make you feel you’re the centre of their

universe so they can manipulate you.”

She believes X targeted her due to her

vulnerability, which stemmed from the

breakdown of her previous relationship.

Things progressed quickly, particularly

after he told her he was going to be made

homeless and asked to move in with her.

Beth did not become aware of his appar-

ently extremist views, which she abhors,

until much later.

There were a few warning signs, how-

ever. “They always say you should trust

your gut, and that’s right. The first sign

was that we went for a walk and he said,

‘People are trying to kill me, they’re after

me’,” she recalled. “It made me wonder

about his mental health.”

He had already told her he was work-

ing for the security services and, she

alleges, later said he would be able to get

other operatives to kill her if she spoke

out. Despite the fact he appeared to be

well paid for this work — she recalled he

always had cash and made constant

online orders — she claims he took money

from her and accessed her account.

While the violence escalated slowly,

she said he would talk about killing “all

the time”. She alleges that he pushed her,

then progressed to using a riding crop

close to her, then striking her with it. He

throttled her, then started brandishing

the machete at her. She added that her

refusal to give him money was what

started the attack that led to the recorded

incident with the machete.

“I said no, and that’s the reason he

tried to kill me,” she said. “When he car-

incidents and repeatedly downplaying

her fears whenever she contacted them.

When the police came to the house,

however, they saw Nazi flags and memo-

rabilia, prompting another investigation

that led to Beth’s devices, including her

mobile, being taken from her. “It meant I

had no way of contacting anyone to get

help,” she said. “I was stuck with him. It

was pivotal in me having a breakdown,

because I had no one to turn to.”

Their relationship ended soon after,

with X throwing Beth out of their prop-

erty and disappearing. They had just

moved and, because she was not listed on

the lease, she became homeless. She

claims he dumped her belongings on a

rubbish tip; she had to rifle through

refuse to find family photos. He was

allowed to leave the country despite the

investigation and is now understood to

be overseas.

But was the Nazi paraphernalia him

playing a character, doing his research?

“He was doing it all the time in private,”

she counters. “He had framed photos

of Nazis and a huge collection of other

Nazi items. No one was seeing that except

me. There comes a point when it can’t be

an act; he wasn’t doing it for anyone else.”

The items seized by counterterrorism

officers were later returned to a member

of Beth’s family by a stranger, reported by

the BBC to be an MI5 officer. Counterter-

rorism police said no criminality was

identified during their inquiries, but

apologised that her property was not

passed directly to her.

Beth’s lawyer Kate Ellis, a solicitor at

the CWJ, said there were parallels

between her case and the murder of

Sarah Everard by the police officer

Wayne Couzens, and also the scandal of

undercover officers having sexual rela-

tionships and even families with women.

“The common thread running through is

the state protecting men who either

exhibit clear warning signs of violence

against women ... or are afforded special

status by the state that either makes them

feel above the law, or actually does put

them above the law,” Ellis said.

Beth still has flashbacks but has now

rebuilt her life, including her business.

“While I’m haunted by what happened, I

am discovering who I am,” she said. “I

have been to the very bottom and been

homeless. I am amazed that I have come

though this and carried on, but what else

am I meant to do?”

In her spare time, she has started lift-

ing weights. “I will know how to defend

myself next time, I will never be the vic-

tim of another man again,” she added.

“But I am left asking so many questions

and I just wish I had some kind of justice

for what I’ve been through.”

Additional reporting: Larisa Brown

ROSAMUND

URWIN

D

The former partner of a ‘demon’ security services operative says police and the courts made no real effort to prevent his abuse

world, his triumph has

profound ramifications. As

leader of the opposition, the

avowed republican revelled

in royal discomfort after the

Duke of York’s Newsnight

interview in 2019 in which he

addressed allegations that he

had sexually assaulted a

teenage girl supplied by his

friend Jeffrey Epstein.

“Congratulations, we’ll

become a republic next year,”

Albanese told guests at a

political dinner in Canberra

shortly after the broadcast.

Australia’s new leader had

planned to hold a

referendum on the monarchy

if elected but, as his victory

speech confirmed, he has

decided to ask the country a

different question.

Albanese has promised a

referendum on whether the

121-year-old constitution

should be changed to

officially recognise Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander

people who lived in the

world’s driest inhabited

continent for tens of

thousands of years before

colonisation.

If the public votes “yes”,

indigenous leaders will form

a “voice to parliament”, a

new body that will consult

with elected politicians about

decisions and policies that

affect Australia’s 798,

indigenous people, who are

more than 12 times more

likely to be in jail than white

Australians, almost four

times more likely to be

unemployed, and have a

far shorter life

expectancy.

Constitutional

recognition would be

powerfully symbolic even if it

did not at first change lives.

“It will certainly make a

difference if our voices are

Fighting back tears,
Australia’s next prime
minister addressed his
supporters just before
midnight in Sydney after his
party ended nearly a decade
of right-wing coalition
governments.
First, Anthony Albanese
pledged a historic
transformation in the
representation of indigenous
Australians and a formal role
for them in the constitution.
Then, in front of a rowdy
crowd chanting “Albo! Albo!”
at Labor headquarters, he
promised to bring Australians
together after a bitter six-
week campaign dominated
by the divisive personality of
the defeated incumbent,
Scott Morrison.
Albanese, 59, has spoken
of a lifetime of being
underestimated. He said: “It
says a lot about our great
country that a son of a single
mum who was a disability
pensioner, who grew up in
public housing down the road
in Camperdown, can stand
before you tonight as
Australia’s prime minister.
“My mother dreamt of a
better life for me. And I hope
that my journey in life
inspires Australians to reach
for the stars.”
With the votes still being
counted last night after
Morrison conceded
defeat and resigned as
leader of the Liberal
Party, it was unclear
whether Albanese
would be able to
form a majority
government or
would have to rely on
independents.
For Australia and the

798,

indigenous people,

who may get a new

voice in parliament

James Salmon Perth
Bernard Lagan Sydney

Anthony Albanese, below,

took power as Labor

supporters celebrated. The

former prime minister Scott

Morrison, above right with

his daughters Lily and

Abbey, conceded defeat

Aboriginals celebrate and royals quake

as Australia elects a republican leader

The medicines regulator has

launched a review into the

use of sodium valproate,

which is still being prescribed

to women without warnings.

When taken in pregnancy,

the epilepsy drug is linked to

a one in ten chance of a baby

being born with deformities

and a four in ten chance of

issues such as severe learning

disabilities and autism.

The Medicines and

Healthcare products

Regulatory Agency has

admitted that six babies a

month are still being born

after exposure to valproate.

The Commission on

Human Medicines, which is

part of the MHRA, is holding

evidence sessions on whether

rules need to be tightened.

Valproate, sold as Epilim

by Sanofi, is an effective drug

to treat epilepsy and women

should not stop taking it

without speaking to their

doctor.

Political pressure is

mounting on ministers to live

up to their “moral duty” to

give financial help to about

20,000 affected families. The

Tory peer Baroness

Cumberlege, who led an

inquiry into the use of

valproate in 2020, has

suggested that an initial fund

of £20 million be set up. The

Department of Health said

plans were being drawn up to

help families.

Ministers have suggested

that families bring clinical

negligence claims against the

NHS but lawyers say they had

to drop cases because it was

the regulators that kept

information from patients

and doctors for years.

@ShaunLintern

Inquiry

into use of

drug for

epilepsy

Shaun Lintern

Health Editor

LISA MAREE WILLIAMS/GETTY IMAGES; MARK BAKER/AP

heard. It will just be

magnificent,” said Jim

Morrison, a prominent

Aboriginal activist.

Environmental concerns

proved pivotal in the election.

Backing for Scott

Morrison’s governing Liberal-

National coalition collapsed

in the largest cities — Sydney,

Melbourne and Brisbane —

while support surged for the

Australian Greens and high-

profile women campaigning

as independents on climate

change issues.

Adam Brandt, the Greens’

leader, said: “We have just

had three years of drought

and fires and floods, and

people can see it. People

know it is happening and

they want action on it.”

Labor plans a more

aggressive response to

climate change than the

previous administration, with

a 43 per cent reduction in

greenhouse gas emissions by

2030 and net-zero emissions

by 2050. On the economy,

Albanese takes office under

pressure to deliver on a bold

pledge for an hourly pay rise

of about AUS$1 for millions of

Australians to insulate them

against the soaring cost of

living. Inflation is at 5.1 per

cent, the highest level in

more than 20 years. But

Albanese’s pay proposals

have put him on a collision

course with business leaders,

who have warned that many

firms that barely survived the

pandemic will collapse.

For the UK, Albanese’s

victory means more than the

prospect of a referendum on

the monarchy. It cuts short

Morrison’s budding political

bromance with Boris

Johnson, forged over their

recent free trade deal and the

historic tripartite Aukus

defence pact with the US.

But the two deals should

also mean Australia’s new

prime minister and Johnson

will see plenty of each other.

Both leaders like a beer and

are big rugby fans.

Labor led in the polls

throughout the race, though

the gap narrowed in the final

days. With a majority of one

seat, the government was

already teetering.

Morrison’s popularity had

benefited from his swift

decision to shut the borders

during the pandemic,

allowing most Australians to

live free of Covid.

But his approval ratings

dived again last year over a

slow vaccine rollout.

Morrison’s lack of

popularity with women was a

problem. During the

campaign he acknowledged

that he could be a bit of a

“bulldozer” and needed to

change his leadership style.

Albanese came across as

down-to-earth. But he will

need to outperform

expectations if his promise of

a better future for all is not to

founder in the face of bleak

economic reality and

hundreds of years of history.