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"This is a ridiculous argument because I no longer use the name

McGartland and I am on my second new identity since I left Belfast," 

he said. "Everyone knows that Martin McGartland was a security 

agent and there is no point in pretending it is a secret", says MartinMcGartland

* * * *

MI5 bids to have Provo spy's case heard in secret

LIAM CLARKE

20 May 2013

Belfast Telegraph

© 2013 Independent News & Media (Northern Ireland)

LAWYERS acting for Martin McGartland— a former agent within the IRA — say

that an action he is taking against MI5 will be one of the first tests of a

controversial secret courts system set up to deal with intelligence matters.

Mr McGartland (below), from west Belfast, has a new name and lives with his

partner Jo at a secret location arranged by MI5 in England.

He is now suing the agency because it withdrew private medical treatment and

stopped paying him.

Case papers lodged at the High Court in London identify Mr McGartland's

solicitors as Follett Stock, with offices in London. MI5 and the Home Office are

represented by the Treasury Solicitors.

Last night the former security forces agent said: "I can't claim benefits or use a

normal doctor without disclosing my identity. I can't account for my bullet

wounds and psychological symptoms without explaining what happened.

"At one stage my case officers advised me to say I had been in a car accident

but they later recognised this was not feasible and agreed to pay me an

amount equivalent to the benefits and arranged private medical treatment

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instead. "I have no income and am living off a compensation payment I got for

being shot." Julian Coia, of Follett Stock, said: "Because of the security situation

my client can only get treatment through private health care, which the

security service stopped".

"In essence, this is a simple case of them failing in their duty of care," he

added. "He has paperwork showing they agreed to make these payments."

MI5 is applying for the case to be held in secret under the Justice and Security

Act 2013 which comes into force in July. The agency argues national security

could be compromised if the case is heard in open court and that Mr

McGartland's new name should be kept secret.

"This is a ridiculous argument because I no longer use the name McGartland

and I am on my second new identity since I left Belfast," he said. "Everyone

knows that Martin McGartland was a security agent and there is no point in

pretending it is a secret."

Treasury Solicitors are refusing to confirm he was an agent. However, in a 2009

letter they admitted it and discussed terms of his resettlement. He also has a

signed contract and tapes of talks with MI5 officers.

If the case is held under the Act, MI5 can apply for closed material procedure.

This allows evidence to be presented without Mr McGartland or his lawyers

being told what it is.

background Martin McGartland infiltrated the IRA for RUC Special Branch

between 1989 and 1991. After he gave away details of a planned bombing the

IRA kidnapped him, but he escaped by jumping out of a third-storey window.

MI5 resettled him under a new name, Martin Ashe, near Newcastle upon Tynewhere he was tracked down and shot six times in 1999. Since then he has been

moved and given another new identity. He is now physically disabled and

suffers from post-traumatic stress.

© 2013 Independent News & Media (Northern Ireland)