Britain’s top IRA spy is likely to have ‘cost more lives than he saved’, a bombshell new report has found.
Freddie Scappaticci, known as the agent Stakeknife, is linked to at least 14 murders and 15 abduction incidents.
He operated in the IRA in Northern Ireland at the heart of the Troubles, but speculation that he had saved hundreds of lives is, according to the report, probably wrong. It was more likely that he saved anywhere between high single figures and low double figures.
Operation Kenova, a £40m investigation spanning seven years, has found that some murders were not prevented by security forces tasked with protecting their agents in the IRA.
The Kenova Report does not officially confirm that Scappaticci was Stakeknife, despite it being widely known. The Kenova team is set to release a more detailed report later this year.
Despite appearing to pour cold water on the idea that Stakeknife saved hundreds of lives, the report said that Stakeknife was “undoubtedly a valuable asset” to security forces who “provided high-quality intelligence about PIRA [Provisional IRA] at considerable risk to himself”.
The 208-page report went on: “Albeit that his intelligence was not always passed on or acted upon and if more of it had been, he could not have remained in place as long as he did.”
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, criticised the investigation for failing to secure a single prosecution.
Sir Jeffrey branded £40 million as a “huge bill to investigate the activities of one agent in the PIRA. It begs the question if that money might have been better spent on pro-active policing today”, he said.
“It is even more disappointing that on the back of such an expensive investigation, the PPS has failed to secure a single prosecution.
“In the coming days, we will be asking more questions of those tasked with making decisions about Troubles related prosecutions in Northern Ireland.
“Where evidence exists against terrorist perpetrators, innocent victims must not be denied access to justice. This principle cannot be compromised.”
