Donaldson was living in virtual squalor at a near-derelict cottage

DENIS DONALDSON thought he had escaped his past when he set up home in an isolated cottage in rural Donegal.

But when a senior Irish republican admits spying for the British, things usually end tragically.

Mr Donaldson knew he would face a life on the run, hiding from angry republicans, when he admitted betraying his comrades, but only his nightmares could have foretold his grisly fate.