We don't often get much detail about the various terror plots we're told have been foiled so I found reading this very interesting.
Quote:
As an MI5 agent "Tom Marcus" risked his life for more than eight years, secretly tracking Islamic extremists and IRA dissidents on the streets of Britain. But when he left MI5 - with a CV full of inexplicable holes - he found himself taking jobs in a call centre and burger bar.
Tom Marcus is still jittery three years after retiring as a spy, he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. Walking down the street, he sometimes sees suspicious behaviour where there is none - shady people lurking in doorways; unusual bulges in coats; nervous, furtive glances.
Tom - not his real name, it can't be used for security reasons - saw plenty during his eight years as an MI5 surveillance officer to make him suspicious.
On one occasion he helped thwart a plan to blow up two coaches full of schoolchildren returning from a trip to France.
Undercover as a homeless man, and positioned near a mosque, he had noticed that a young Muslim man he had been tracking - who had fought with militant Islamist group Boko Haram in Africa before returning to the UK - had entered the place of worship but not left it. He had also counted more women leaving the building than going in.
He decided that one of the "women" leaving must have been the male extremist disguised in a burka. He informed his superiors, and the man - found to have six home-made bombs in his car - was arrested. The bombs were all set to go off at the same time via a mobile phone found on the suspect, meaning Tom almost certainly saved lives that day.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37504999
By virtue of their secret work our spooks don't get any public recognition but I reckon this one and all those like him deserve out sincere gratitude. It's such a shame that just like those who serve in our armed forces, emergency services etc. they often suffer in terms of careers, relationships etc. after their period of service ends.