'Abandoned' IRA informer Raymond Gilmour found dead at home in Kent

An man who became an IRA 'supergrass' during the Troubles in Northern Ireland has been found dead at his flat in Kent, according to reports.

The badly decomposed body of Raymond Gilmour, 55, was found in his flat a week after his death by his 18-year-old son from his second marriage, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

The death is not being treated as suspicious, it is understood.

Gilmour, from Londonderry, became an RUC Special Branch informer at the age of 17.

He infiltrated the IRA at the height of the Troubles, but his cover was blown when police used information he supplied to recover a machine gun.

In 1984 a trial in which Gilmour gave evidence as the only witness against 31 men and women collapsed and he was given a new identity by MI5 and resettled in England, where he lived for more than 30 years.

After moving, Gilmour had no contact with his wife and two children, and though he married twice in his new life he reportedly never got over leaving his native Derry and struggled with psychological problems.

The Belfast Telegraph quoted Gilmour's fellow agent, Martin McGartland as saying the circumstances in which Gilmour had been found dead were "disgraceful" and accusing the security services of leaving his friend to "die in the gutter".

A post mortem examination is due to be carried out and a funeral is due to take place next week.