After the better part of a century since allegations of systematic abuse at Belfast’s Kincora Boys’ Home first surfaced, renewed attention is focusing on whether the institution functioned as a covert blackmail operation with British intelligence awareness, according to an investigation by The Grayzone.
The scrutiny has intensified amid newly declassified US Justice Department files linked to Jeffrey Epstein, which have again raised questions about Prince Andrew and whether UK intelligence agencies knew of, or were connected to, abuse networks involving minors.
The Grayzone reported that such claims would not be unprecedented. In 1980, revelations emerged that Kincora had operated for years as a site of systemic sexual abuse by senior staff. From early inquiries, testimony suggested British intelligence may have been aware of the crimes and maintained relationships with figures running the home, the outlet said, noting that Lord Mountbatten, Prince Andrew’s great-uncle, has long been linked to the scandal.
These allegations sit within Britain’s counterinsurgency campaign in occupied Ireland, when MI5 and MI6 were deeply embedded across paramilitary groups. Researchers have argued that Kincora could have served as a tool for compromising or blackmailing potential intelligence assets, the outlet reported.
Veteran BBC journalist Chris Moore’s book Kincora: Britain’s Shame, published in May 2025 after decades of research, received little mainstream coverage. Moore contends Kincora was part of a wider abuse network across British-occupied Ireland, allegedly known to intelligence agencies.
The Grayzone, on Moore’s 2023 meeting with survivor Arthur Smyth, who was sent to Kincora at 11 and sexually abused by senior figures, later identified one alleged abuser as Mountbatten shortly before he died in 1979. The outlet added that Mountbatten’s alleged crimes were widely known in British and US intelligence circles, even as the state continued to protect his public image.
A ‘sexual threat’ in the US
New reporting cited in the exposé adds weight to long-standing allegations against Lord Mountbatten, revealing that US authorities had flagged him as a sexual threat decades before the Kincora scandal became public. Historian Andrew Lownie, who was cited by the outlet, found that the FBI had classified Mountbatten during World War II as “a homosexual with a perversion for young boys,” and later told him additional files had been destroyed. Lownie concluded the records were likely eliminated at the request of the British government.
Abuse complaints at the Kincora Boys’ Home began almost immediately after it opened in 1958, with repeated police visits over decades resulting in no action. Allegations intensified after loyalist figure William McGrath became housefather in 1971. Survivors later described severe abuse and intimidation, while director Joe Mains allegedly deflected police scrutiny by dismissing claims as lies by troubled children.
According to The Grayzone, McGrath’s protection stemmed from his political and intelligence ties. He led the loyalist group Tara, which researchers say operated under British Army oversight, and openly claimed to work with British intelligence. Police sources told Moore that MI6 had monitored McGrath since the late 1950s, fueling arguments that Kincora was exploited to compromise Unionist figures.
The scandal only broke publicly in January 1980 after an Irish Times investigation prompted a new probe into the issue. Detectives quickly identified dozens of victims, leading to the arrest of Mains, McGrath, and Raymond Semple. While Mains and Semple admitted guilt, McGrath denied the charges, displaying what investigators described as unusually disciplined resistance during questioning.
Suspicions of political and intelligence entanglement deepened during the prosecution of William McGrath, according to reporting by The Grayzone. During police questioning, McGrath claimed the abuse allegations were part of a coordinated political plot against him, blaming rival loyalist factions and unnamed forces, but offered no evidence and promised revelations that never came.
When the case finally went to trial in December 1981, McGrath, Joe Mains, Raymond Semple, and three others faced charges over abuse at multiple state-run homes. Journalist Chris Moore recalled expectations that McGrath’s testimony could expose a wider nexus between British authorities, unionist networks, and possibly MI5. Instead, McGrath abruptly changed his plea to guilty before testifying, a move that stunned survivors and observers. All six defendants were convicted, but their sentences were widely criticised as lenient.
MI5, MI6 were in the know
McGrath’s sudden plea shift raised lasting questions about whether pressure was applied to prevent damaging disclosures. Later efforts to revisit the case, including the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry launched in 2013, were hampered by strict limits. Although whistleblowers alleged intelligence complicity, the inquiry lacked the power to compel MI5 or MI6 records and relied on heavily redacted material and anonymised testimony. Critics argued that these constraints ensured key questions about the intelligence protection of abusers at Kincora remained unresolved.
Documents reviewed by The Grayzone indicate that British intelligence discussed obstructing scrutiny of the Kincora scandal even as public inquiries were underway. A June 1982 MI5 submission to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry showed senior officials considered creating “false files” to mislead police investigations led by detective George Caskey. Although the Inquiry later said the plan was never carried out, the proposal itself raised serious concerns.
Suspicions deepened in 2020 when police records from Kincora investigations between 1980 and 1983 were revealed to have been destroyed, coinciding with the Inquiry’s launch. The remaining documents showed repeated warnings of intelligence involvement were minimised. MI5 told the Inquiry it held no records proving William McGrath was an agent, yet its own files noted by 1972 that McGrath had been accused of assaulting young boys and receiving unexplained cash payments.
The Inquiry accepted MI5’s claims that such information was not passed to the police because it was unclear whether the assaults were sexual. Similar reasoning was applied to later MI5 documents referencing McGrath “assaulting small boys.” Despite acknowledging intelligence agencies had a duty to report potential crimes, the Inquiry deemed accusations of misconduct by MI5 “unjustified.”
Comparable material from MI6 was also discounted. An internal file acknowledged allegations of abuse at Kincora and that at least one MI6 agent was aware of misconduct. Inquiry chair Anthony Hart nevertheless suggested the intelligence officer may have misunderstood events.
Further contradictions identified by The Grayzone cast doubt on the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry’s findings on intelligence awareness of William McGrath’s role at Kincora. While the Inquiry claimed MI5 was unaware of McGrath’s employment there until 1977, documents it disclosed stated that McGrath was reported as Kincora’s warden as early as 1975, with a 1973 police memo to MI5 describing him as a social worker at the home.
Scrutiny briefly extended to senior intelligence leadership after the Inquiry ordered searches of MI5, MI6, GCHQ, and Metropolitan Police records on abuse involving public officials. MI5 submitted files naming 10 prominent figures, including Maurice Oldfield, who oversaw MI6 operations in occupied Ireland during the 1970s. Shortly before his death in 1981, Oldfield was investigated internally over whether his private life exposed him to blackmail.
Sexual abuse shaping British media
Despite evidence linking Oldfield to figures connected to Kincora, the Inquiry repeatedly cleared him. Its final report said there was insufficient information to determine whether references in intelligence files to “houseboys” meant minors. This conclusion contradicted testimony from an anonymous MI6 officer who said the agency held multiple binders detailing Oldfield’s relationship with Kincora and its director Joe Mains.
Heavily redacted documents also showed MI5 was aware of police suspicions that Oldfield was directly entangled in the Kincora affair during visits between 1974 and 1979. Nonetheless, the Inquiry dismissed these materials as unproven allegations.
Allegations of a Kincora-related cover-up continue to shape British media and institutional behaviour, as the BBC in April 2021 abruptly pulled Lost Boys, a documentary examining child disappearances in Belfast during the Troubles that reportedly linked the cases to sexual abuse networks connected to Kincora and featured former police officers alleging intelligence obstruction.
Reportedly, BBC executives were alarmed by evidence pointing to MI5 involvement, and journalist Chris Moore, a consultant on the project, reported signs of intimidation around the production team, including suspected burglaries. Moore described these incidents as consistent with long-standing efforts to deter renewed scrutiny of Kincora.
After decades of investigating the case, Moore told The Grayzone that intelligence agencies operate with near-total impunity, citing MI5’s role in sealing key Kincora files until 2065 and 2085. He also said his communications with journalists probing intelligence-linked loyalist crimes were extensively monitored, officially labeled “defensive” but effectively obstructing accountability. According to The Grayzone, ongoing evidence suppression, media interventions, and journalist surveillance reinforce claims that the full truth about Kincora and British intelligence involvement remains unresolved.
