A British IRA 'supergrass' has been abandoned by MI5 and left with mental health problems, the BBC has learned.

Raymond Gilmore claims he has been neglected by the government and organisations he risked his life to assist.

Mr Gilmore, who is originally from L’Derry, now lives in south-east England. He has assumed a false identity for the past thirty years.

He claims he was told by MI5 he would be given £500,000, a new home, psychiatric support and a pension.

Contrary to that, the former agent says he is now unable to work and sleeps with a gun by his bed, in fear of his life.

He told the BBC he received modest accommodation, £600 a month for three years and was not provided with employment.

He claims to have suffered alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Gilmore is taking his case to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

The L'Derry native was 17 when he became an RUC special branch agent in 1976. He joined the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and then moved to the IRA in 1980.

"I brought the INLA to their knees in Derry, I brought the IRA to their knees in Derry and I saved countless lives," he told the broadcaster.

"If I'm being treated like this after so many years, what do you think people down the chain are being treated like?"

His decision to testify prompted the arrest of 35 republicans in L’Derry in the 1980s.

The case was dropped when the Lord Chief Justice dismissed Mr Gilmour’s evidence.

Senior republicans have stated they hold no sympathy for Mr Gilmour and that his treatment by MI5 is unsurprising.

Ian Paisley Jr said he had sympathy for anyone who had risked their life and who the government had subsequently failed to protect.

(IT/GK)