'Fifth man' John Cairncross dies

'Fifth man' John Cairncross dies

John Cairncross, the spy exposed as the "Fifth Man'' by the KGB double agent Oleg Gordievsky, died in his sleep yesterday, aged 82. Cairncross was regarded by the Russians as one of their "Ring of Five'' spies in London alongside Burgess, Blunt, Philby and Maclean. Although Cairncross impressed the Russians with the quality of his information, he insisted that he had never passed on information harmful to Britain. He had been living secretly in the west of England while he finished his memoirs.