MI5 apologises and pays compensation to woman allegedly abused by agent

MI5’s director general, Sir Ken McCallum, said the security service had ‘relied on incorrect evidence’ in an apology to the woman known only as Beth. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

MI5 has apologised and paid compensation to a woman who alleged the Security Service was to blame for her being attacked with a machete and abused by one of its agents.

The woman, known only as Beth, was in a relationship with a man she says used his status as an MI5 agent to perpetrate abuse and terrorise her into silence.