Protecting Stakeknife seemed to ‘outweigh’ protecting life of a victim, Kenova report finds
The final report of the £47 million (€52.6 million) Operation Kenova investigation into the activities of Stakeknife, the British army’s top IRA agent during the Troubles, has shed more light on his recruitment and activities.
Freddie Scappaticci, who was connected to 14 murders and 15 abductions, was the head of the IRA’s notorious internal security unit (ISU), known as the Nutting Squad. He died in 2023.
The west Belfast man is not named in the report due to a UK government policy of “neither confirm nor deny” relating to sensitive intelligence issues. The report, published on Tuesday, calls for his identity to be officially confirmed, saying the case is “exceptional” and it is in the public interest to do so.
[ Final report into activities of British army’s top IRA agent during Troubles to be releasedOpens in new window ]
It outlines why claims about Scappaticci’s identity as Stakeknife are “seen as authoritative and credible”, including that the Kenova team “established that Scappaticci told his wife and a woman associate that he was Stakeknife”.
The British army began cultivating and recruiting Scappaticci in the 1970s, and he operated as an agent into the 1990s.
His motivation for becoming an agent “appears to have been linked either to a risk that he was facing criminal prosecution or a desire for financial gain”, the report says.
A dedicated subunit, the Rat Hole, was set up to deal with Stakeknife’s intelligence because of the “high levels of information” he was providing. A phone line dedicated solely to Stakeknife was “staffed round the clock”, says the report.
By the 1990s, “Stakeknife was beginning to voice concerns about the way he was being treated and the significant period of time he had spent as an agent was taking [its] toll”. But, keen for him to continue, the army was “willing to continue massaging his ego … telling him that if he decided to stop working ‘the loss would be felt throughout the intelligence world’” .
[ Stakeknife one of several British spies involved in killing suspected informers, court hearsOpens in new window ]
He was also “very well rewarded financially” and offered incentives ranging from “roughly the equivalent of an average wage to lump sums of tens of thousands of pounds, including to assist with the purchase of property”.
Scappaticci was twice taken by his British army handlers “for a holiday when they knew he was wanted by the RUC for conspiracy to murder and false imprisonment”. On these occasions he “was flown by military aircraft and given military identification”, the report says.
From the 1990s, amid concerns his cover would be blown or that he could face prosecution, there were attempts to relocate him and discussions took place about protecting his assets.
There was communication with the army about arranging a “farewell dinner” for him, including a “list of those who would attend and a likely venue”.
His handlers learned an attempt to resettle him in Britain had been unsuccessful when he was “seen driving a vehicle in Belfast”, with the report noting that “neither the army nor MI5 appeared capable of effectively controlling Stakeknife, an individual who at one point described himself as ‘a special case’” .
He was again “offered money to purchase property and consideration was given to five and six-figure incentives to cover a pension or annual salary”.
[ Son of Stakeknife victim ‘frustrated’ by UK government silence on name change and willOpens in new window ]
The Kenova team could not ascertain how much money he was paid in total, but it was well documented that when he finally resettled in Britain “he was accommodated in a detached property with a car and was able to enjoy a social life with people who had no idea of his past”.
The report concluded that “time and time again, it would appear that protecting the agent outweighed protecting the life of a victim or protecting the right of their families to see justice for the crimes committed against their loved one”.
