Renegade MI5 agent David Shayler appeared in court today at the start of one of the most explosive spy trials in 20 years.
Middlesbrough-born Shayler, 35, who faces three charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act, is accused of leaking details of the security services' activities to a Sunday newspaper four years ago.
He claimed agents in the 1970s tapped the telephone of former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson and kept a file on Home Secretary Jack Straw.
Arriving at the High Court in London with girlfriend and ex-MI5 agent Annie Machon, Shayler said: "We are going to put the British state on trial.
"I have got nothing to fear - but they have everything to fear."
Shayler claims he made the disclosures to expose incompetence and malpractice in the security services.
He also argues his prosecution is incompatible with the Human Rights Act, which protects free speech.
Two of the charges relate to the unauthorised disclosure of security service information and the third concerns revealing details of telephone taps. Each carries a maximum sentence of two years.
The first few days of the trial are likely to be taken up with legal arguments.
Updated: 16.20 Thursday, April 26
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