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Meet Delores, the ex-MI5 officer now living as a woman
Terry Kirby17.07.09
A decade ago, former MI5 officer David Shayler earned wide respect for his courage in blowing the whistle on unauthorised activities by the intelligence services.
Many sympathised with his fight against persistent government efforts to bring him to court, which eventually led to a six-month prison sentence.
He has been tracked down living in a squat in Surrey, with a group called the Rainbow Movement, and believes the world will end in 2012.
His former girlfriend, Annie Machon, who also worked for MI5, believes his long fight with the intelligence services has led him to suffer a breakdown.
She said today: "I believe David is a good and honourable man but he has had some sort of severe breakdown. I do blame the Government and the intelligence agencies for what he has become. They have ruined his life.''
Last in the public eye as a campaigner against the war in Iraq, Shayler, now 43, has been living in a National Trust owned property, Hackhurst Farm, in Abinger in Surrey since last month, after being evicted from another farm near Guildford. The Trust is considering whether to seek a court order for the squatters' eviction.
Shayler told the local weekly paper: "I have realised that I am Christ and I am here to save humanity. In 2012 it is widely predicted that the world will end. It is predicted there will be a massive change in people's consciousness and we will see the end of Babylon and the end of the world as we know it.
"My job is to show people the way when this happens. Like Jesus I have been put in prison and punished and have come to see the way."
He said that his mission to save the world included growing large quantities of hemp both for food and biofuel. He also admitted smoking large quantities of cannabis.
Posing yesterday as Delores in his wig and high heels he said: ''Jesus was a transvestite.'' He said that one of the hardest things about "leaving my other life" was the end of his relationship with Miss Machon.
He now also maintains a website entitled ''I Am Messiah'' dedicated to his views. It describes how he was convinced that he was the Messiah after seeing a headline in a London newspaper about a US rapper. The former MI5 man is also in dispute with a group called the Panacea Society, a long standing religious movement which believes in the second coming and the teachings of "modern prophets".
He believes the society should hand over what he claims to be £22m of its assets to him. The website also contains extensive material about his love for Middlesbrough football club.
After his disclosures were published in 1997, he and Miss Machon went on the run in France. Although he was arrested and spent several months in prison, an attempt by British authorities to extradite him was rejected.
He returned voluntarily to Britain in 2000, where he was arrested and prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. At his Old Bailey trial, during which he represented himself, he was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison, although he served just seven weeks.
Reader views (33)
Eddie Izzard and David Icke have already been mentioned so I wont mention them. But Shaylor has gone from whistle blower to getting wolf whistles from the unknowing.
- Dhan Raj, Basildon
Lily Savage eat your heart out!!
- Steve Hamilton, Totnes
I'll try again: Looks like its a great diet program!
- Trunk, US
And you lame-ass twits can't figure out why you lost the Empire????????
- Justin Case, Chicago USA
fierce
- Juliet, Amsterdam
I wonder what became of Dougal from the Magic Roundabout. It's on Shayler's head!
- Adam, harrow, uk
If only the world would end in 2012. We are stuck with it for a lot longer yet.
- Geek Freak, Paris, Texas
Shayler clearly still works for MI5. He has aligned himself with the 9/11 truth movement and those that quite rightly question the official story about the london bombings - then has a preposterous messianic transvestite breakdown - and thus helps the public to feel that truth seekers are all fringe nutcases like him.
MI5 are working to ensure that large numbers are too embarrassed to question 7/7 for fear of being labelled a nutcase-shayler type.
Does anyone really believe MI5 lets it's ex-operatives go around 'exposing them' indefinitely - don't make me laugh!!
- Ben, London
Don't see why this is any more potty than the claims of any of the other so-called messiahs that have popped up in history-or, indeed, the basic claims of any of the mainsteam religions.
- Alan, London
Shayler always made a rather unconvincing anti-war activist and civil libertarian (oddly enough he continued supporting MI5's view that Libya was responsible for the Lockerbie attack, despite considerable evidence to the contrary)
Lets hope that in the guise of Delores he is more at home......
- Paul Stott, Hackney
I spoke with David Shayler years ago as we were both whistle blowers and he was under a huge strain already..this news makes me really sad...his life was desotryed by others who should have known better....what he did was remarkable for the country...he did not deserve the treatment he got
- Ruby Cooper, Nice France and London UK
Sorry, he/she can't be the new Messiah. Gordon Brown has already claimed that title.
- Scotty, Cambridge UK
bloody hell...
- Jules_London, london
He certainly puts the "Mess" in "Messiah".
- Charles Siu, London UK
What a sad mess and what his mum say?
- Matt, Ruthin
He is not the Messiah, he's a very naughty girl...Oh Tina Turner want's her wig back..
- Shelly, London
Well done Mr Shayler for telling the truth
you made the world a better place
Shayler is a professional acTOR
and transvestites make better agents
he's just using his talents to the full
- Oilthieves, surrey
@ Alison, London
His was prepared to go to prison for the book he wrote and the amount of money he would make from it. Principles do not come into it when you work for the secret services.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
what does that say about mi5,who recruited that pillock in the first place.if that is the best that they can recruit we would be better with pc plod
- John Mckim, glasgow.uk
OH MY LORD???!!!!!
- Ali Sichilongo, London
I think this is a very sad story...I respected David Shayler for being a whistleblower and someone who was prepared to go for prison for his principles...but somewhere along the line he's turned into David Icke meets Grayson Perry.
Also very sorry for his former girlfriend who supported him and fought his corner while he was in prison, and is now behaving with a great deal of dignity.
- Alison, London
another primark chav... attractive!!!
- Jb Sussex, hove sussex uk
The Devil wears Prada...
The Messiah wears Primark!
- D.W., London
I would never have guessed that he's wearing a wig if you hadn't told me!!
- Jacob, Canterbury
fantastic ! (s)he looks like a second row forward all dragged-up on a stag do in Tenby. And what a fantastic wig - perhaps it is sentient and using mind-control on him.
- Squiz, Islington
Peter Bokor, I don't want to judge but I think your wife needs to make a bit more of an effort.
- Jon, london,England
What a Beauty!!!! And what a great disguise!!! It's hard to tell it's a bloke.
- Xtremely Worried, Britain (Formerly Great)
He's giving tranny's a bad name with his awful hair style. Spend some money on a decent wig please!
- Melanie, milton keynes, bucks
Deep cover, I suppose.
- Ken, Bexleyheath
Good to know the Messiah has great legs!
- D.W., London
Well if that is the best disguise MI5 could come up with, then this countries intelligence agencies are in big trouble!
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
Never laughed so much in years!
- Ted, London
Looks better than my wife! (I hope she doesn't read this.)
- Paul Bokor, Cambridge, UK
