Former Ulster Unionist candidate and British Army officer linked to security firm asked to monitor students.
Posted by Jim on April 25, 2026
Tim Collins part of senior leadership of security consultancy company tasked with monitoring student groups involved in Palestine protests and animal rights
By John Breslin
April 25, 2026 at 6:00am BST
A security company linked to a former British Army officer and one-time Ulster Unionist election candidate was tasked with gathering intelligence on university students, it has emerged.
Former Colonel Tim Collins, who first came to prominence as a Royal Irish Regiment battalion commander in Iraq, is a shareholder and part of the senior leadership of the Horus Security Consultancy Group.
Twelve universities paid the company a total of more than £440,000 to open source monitor and provide information both on individuals and groups over three years to the end of March 2025, an online investigative news site has revealed.
One university provided the consultancy firm with a list of student protest groups it asked to be alerted about, including pro-Palestinian and animal rights activists, Liberty Investigates reported
The investigation into the monitoring of protest activity and speakers was carried out in partnership with Al Jazeera.
Mr Collins, who unsuccessfully stood as an Ulster Unionist candidate in the 2024 general election, is listed as a shareholder in Horus Security Consultancy. He is also a directory and the main shareholder in a related company, Horus Global.
Horus Security Consultancy describes itself as a company that delivers “specialist high-quality intelligence and security consultancy, led by one of the most experienced senior leadership teams in the sector”.
The former RIR officer, remembered for his 2003 speech to troops before they went into action and who previously served in the SAS, was contacted for comment on the services provided to the universities. Horus Security was also contacted.
Mr Collins joined the company in 2020. It was established in Oxford in 2006 by Jonathan Whitely, a former lieutenant colonel in military intelligence.
Imperial College London, one of the universities that hired the security firm, denied its activities amounted to surveillance of students.
Horus was used to “help identify potential security risks to its community, which might include protest activity within the vicinity of its campuses. All this information is drawn from the public domain”, the university said.
Another, The University of Sheffield, told Liberty Investigates it used the company to “horizon scan” for issues which may affect the university, such as large-scale upcoming protests.
It added that it “did not share student data with Horus or brief it to monitor individuals and its priority is to maintain a safe environment while supporting lawful protest”, Liberty Investigates reported.
However, another university did ask for a “threat assessment” on a Palestinian-American academic invited to speak in a 2023 lecture series in memory of British student Tom Hurndall, killed by an Israeli sniper in Gaza in 2003.