Army agent at centre of Ulster scandal dies

A former British Army agent who was at the centre of one of the most controversial intelligence mysteries in Northern Ireland has died in exile in Canada, it emerged yesterday.

Brian Nelson, 55, who served a lengthy jail sentence after admitting five murder conspiracies and other terrorist offences, was said to have died from a brian tumour.

He is presumed to have been spirited away to Canada after his release. His life would have been in danger from the Ulster Defence Association, the loyalist group that has already killed another man involved in the case of murdered Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane.

On Thursday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens will issue a synopsis of a report, which has taken years to complete, on allegations that intelligence elements set up Irish republicans and others to be murdered.

His report will conclude that a secret Army intelligence unit and the RUC Special Branch helped loyalists to kill republicans during the 1980s.

He will also accuse intelligence officers of obstructing and sabotaging his investigations. His findings will be the most serious official criticism levelled at the security authorities during more than three decades of the Northern Ireland troubles. Sir John is to recommend bringing criminal charges against up to a score of policemen and undercover officers, as well as members of the ultra-secret Force Research Unit.