Will of Britain's top IRA agent to be kept secret for next 70 years: Man dubbed 'Stakeknife' who was linked to the 'executions' of at least 14 people has inheritance document sealed
It is the first time the contents of a will – other than those of the Royal Family – has not been made available to the public.
Freddie Scappaticci, codenamed Stakeknife, was unmasked in 2003 as the UK's top agent in the IRA. He always denied the claims.
He died aged 77 in 2023 and yesterday Sir Julian Flaux ordered his will should be sealed for 70 years.
At a closed hearing in London on July 21, barristers for the Attorney General – representing the public interest – backed the case for keeping the will sealed.
The court heard that a man named Michael Johnson was prepared to represent Scappaticci's interests, provided this happened.
Christopher Buckley, representing Mr Johnson, said his client feared that making the will publicly available would put his life at risk.
Sir Julian agreed there was a 'need to protect [Mr Johnson] and those named in the will from the real risk of serious physical harm or even death because they might be thought guilty by association'.
Sir Julian said in his 18-page ruling that Scappaticci, from west Belfast, was alleged to have been part of the Provisional IRA's 'Nutting Squad' from around 1980 until the mid-1990s, which interrogated suspected informers.
In 2003, media reports claimed that he had spied on the IRA for the British Government, and that while working for both 'was responsible for the torture and murder of dozens of alleged IRA informers'.
He failed in a legal bid to force the Government to publicly state he was not Stakeknife, forcing him to move to England. He changed his name to Frank Cowley.
Sir Julian said: 'Even after he moved to England and changed his name, he continued to receive death threats. He had to relocate at short notice several times.'
Stakeknife's victims 'could have been saved by Britain': Families of people murdered by double agent say state and IRA were 'co-conspirators' in their deaths - after damning report into spy operating inside terror group's 'nutting squad
JAMES TOZER & RORY TINGLE
More lives were probably lost than saved by the operations of the British Army's 'super agent' during the Troubles, a damning report revealed today.
Operation Kenova, which ran for seven years and cost approximately £40million, examined the role of Stakeknife, the Army's 'golden goose' who was embedded in the heart of the IRA's Internal Security Unit (ISU) or 'nutting squad '.
The agent is widely believed to be Freddie Scappaticci, a Belfast bricklayer who died last April aged 77 - although today's report stops short of confirming this.
Stakeknife is linked to the 'execution' of at least 14 people and the kidnap and torture of many more, but the Army has long defended his activities on the basis that his intelligence saved 180 lives.
But Jon Boutcher, who previously led the Kenova probe and revealed its findings today, said that it was 'probable' more people were killed through Scappaticci's role at the heart of the Provisional IRA's savage internal disciplinary processes.
He described claims he was a 'golden goose' who saved hundreds of lives as 'rooted in fables and fairy tales', adding that 'victims were not protected and terrorists were not subjected to criminal justice'.
Despite not identifying Scappaticci as Stakeknife, the interim report describes him as 'a critical person of interest' who was central to Operation Kenova.
Mr Boutcher, who stepped down from the investigation to become chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said he was prevented from unmasking the agent by the government but asked to be allowed to do so in the final report.
He also hit out at the 'disappointing' decision not to prosecute Stakeknife despite the files he passed to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland containing 'very serious evidence of criminality' including murder.
He said the failure to prosecute anyone was 'predominantly because of a lack of resources' at the PPS, which he described as 'under-resourced'.
His interim findings and recommendations include:
Stakeknife probably cost more lives than he saved and security forces failed to stop some murders to protect their IRA agents;
The 'Republican leadership' should apologise for the 'abduction, torture and murder' perpetrated by the IRA's Internal Security Unit;
No one will be prosecuted as a result of the report;
The MI5 has a policy of 'delay' and getting information out of it is 'challenging';
Ministers should set up a new statutory framework for investigating cases from the Troubles;
The security services' 'neither comment nor deny' policy should be reviewed so it isn't used to cover up wrongdoing;
The Summer Solstice should be designated as a day when all victims of the Troubles are remembered.
For decades, myth and intrigue have swirled around the killings linked to Stakeknife, regarded as the 'jewel in the crown' of British intelligence efforts to infiltrate the Republican terror group in the 1980s and 90s.
In 2003 his identity was unmasked as Freddie Scappaticci, the son of Italian immigrants from South Belfast, resulting in his fleeing Northern Ireland.
He denied being a British agent right up until his death in 2023, spending his final years in hiding under a new identity in the Home Counties.
Notorious for his brutality, Scappaticci rose to become second in command of the IRA's feared Internal Security Unit, which was tasked with identifying informers — or 'touts' — within the terror group's ranks.
They were nicknamed the Nutting Squad for the punishment meted out on those deemed to have betrayed the Republican cause – a bullet in the head, or 'nut'.
A key issue since his exposure has been whether Scappaticci's Army handlers failed to pass on intelligence which could have saved the lives of those condemned in order to avoid compromising the identity of their most prized source.
Some of those who died as a result were themselves lower-level British agents or informers, it has long been alleged.
In his report, Mr Boutcher says Stakeknife - who received £80,000 a year from the taxpayer - was 'undoubtedly a valuable asset who provided high quality intelligence about PIRA [the Provisional IRA] at considerable risk to himself'.
However this 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'.
The report says it has examined 90 per cent of Stakeknife's surviving reports and concluded that the number of lives saved by information he supplied is 'between high single figures and low double figures and nowhere near [the] hundreds sometimes claimed'.
This 'does not take account of the lives lost as a consequence of Stakeknife's continued operation as an agent', therefore it is 'probable that this resulted in more lives being lost than saved'.
Bizarrely, Mr Boutcher's report says 'nothing' in his report can be taken as confirmation that Scappaticci was Stakeknife.
It describes the situation in which the security services and police were operating between the 1970s and 90s in Northern Ireland as 'uniquely challenging'.
But now the conflict has ended, it is time that 'the law should recover its voice and the truth should be spoken aloud', both in relation to crimes from the Troubles which remain unsolved and the reasons why they were not solved at the time, it says.
Unveiling his report today, Mr Boutcher said it was 'likely that his crimes as an agent resulted in more lives being lost than were saved'.
He said his report 'leaves little doubt that the Republican leadership was responsible for numerous dreadful crimes, many of which the Government failed to prevent'.
'The Government and Republican leadership now need to acknowledge their roles in this awful section of history and both should apologise to families,' he added.
But the PSNI chief constable said that even if it was 'possible to accurately and reliably say that a particular agent within a terrorist group did more harm than good, the morality and legality of agents doing any harm - with the knowledge of or on behalf of the state - would not be accepted today'.
Mr Boutcher said Scappaticci should have been prosecuted – but insisted this should not be taken as confirmation that he was Stakeknife, saying Scappaticci was 'directly linked to Operation Kenova'.
Saying he did not believe Stakeknife was 'owed a debt of gratitude' by society, Mr Boutcher said: 'It's the victims of crimes including murder that we should focus our understanding on today.'
He said it remained vital that the security forces could recruit agents 'to protect society from terrorism', but they must 'act with propriety and within the rule of law'.
'In these cases, this did not happen,' he added.
Mr Boutcher denied his report suggested the IRA and the security forces were 'equally culpable' for the killings linked to Stakeknife, saying the sacrifices made by RUC officers during the Troubles were 'incredible'.
But he said that what set Britain apart from the terrorists was that 'we accept when we've got things wrong'.
'We got this wrong, but that should not detract from the huge efforts of the security forces to keep society safe.'
He said files submitted to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland by Operation Kenova about Stakeknife contained 'strong evidence implicating him and others in very serious wrongdoing'.
'In my view, much of this could and would have been avoided if Northern Ireland agent-running had been subject to proper regulation, control and oversight during the Troubles,' he added.
The chief constable said families of those killed as a result of Stakeknife's activities and the wider killings of suspected IRA informers had 'endured endless delays, setbacks and unfulfilled promises in their quest for the truth'.
The report definitively says that contrary to long-standing speculation, Stakeknife did exist and was not a 'collective of different agents'.
His identity is known to the investigation, report Mr Boutcher said, branding the situation where he could not name him despite his death last year 'no longer tenable'.
He was involved in 'very serious and wholly unjustifiable criminality whilst operating as an agent, including murder', Mr Boutcher said today.
Meanwhile claims that his intelligence led to 'countless' or hundreds of lives being saved are 'hugely exaggerated' and 'implausible', he added.
The report says British security forces operating in Northern Ireland during the Troubles 'were frequently aware of imminent abductions and murders yet failed to protect those at risk'.
'As a result, preventable deaths occurred with their knowledge and those responsible were not brought to justice and were instead left free to reoffend.'
It says 'violence and humiliation' was meted out to women, children, the elderly and those with learning disabilities by the IRA's Internal Security Unit in which Stakeknife was second in command.
The use and handling of agents during the 'deadly battle' with the IRA was seen as a 'high stakes dark art' which was practised 'off the books' in a 'maverick' culture, Mr Boutcher said today.
Mr Boutcher said Kenova had encountered difficulties accessing information from state agencies and spoke of attempts to undermine their work.
He revealed that on the day his team was due to deliver its first tranche of evidence files to Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service in October 2019, MI5 informed them that the building's security accreditation had expired.
Mr Boutcher said it was not until February 2020 until the accreditation was restored and the files could be delivered.
The PSNI chief constable said the use of agents undoubtedly saved lives during the Troubles. However, he said there were occasions when preventable crimes were allowed to happen and went unsolved as a result of efforts to protect agents.
He identified several cases of murder where the security forces had advance intelligence but did not intervene in order to protect sources.
He acknowledged the 'exceptional stressful' operating climate the security forces worked in, and said handlers often faced dilemmas where there was 'no right answer'.
The report said mistakes and questionable decisions were 'inevitable and understandable'.
'State agents do need to be protected through anonymity and secrecy, but that protection cannot confer de facto immunity or a right to act with impunity as that would be wholly incompatible with the rule of law and human rights,' the report said.
'Agents may sometimes engage in criminal conduct, but they do not have a free licence to break the law and should not be led to believe otherwise.'
Mr Boutcher said the state's 'absolutist approach' to agent anonymity may have led to other individuals losing their lives.
He said the NCND policy seems to have assumed a 'totemic status' within government and the security forces and has become an 'implacable dogma or mantra with the qualities of a stone wall'.
He said there should be a review in relation to its 'routine application' in Troubles cases to ensure it is not allowed to 'obscure wrongdoing by the security forces or serious criminality by agents'.
Asked about whether agents might be operating for the Government in a similar way today, Mr Boutcher said he hoped the modernisation of policing would prevent it.
He continued: 'These types of activities should never happen in the United Kingdom today.'
A lack of operating framework at the time made for a 'uniquely dangerous' situation, he added.
Paying tribute to those who helped with the report's investigation, he said: 'Each person we spoke with helped shape and inspire the work of Kenova.
'What each legacy victim has endured should be acknowledged. I don't believe Stakeknife is owed any debt of gratitude.'
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris today said the Government could not comment on the detail of the report until the final version was published.
'There can be no doubt that the way Operation Kenova has conducted its work since being commissioned in 2016 has gained the trust of many families who have long been seeking answers as to what exactly happened when their loved ones were so brutally murdered by, and on the orders of, the Provisional IRA,' he said.
'Over 3,500 people from all parts of the community were killed during the Troubles and tens of thousands more injured. Over 1,000 of those killed were members of the security forces. Their bravery, courage, dedication and sacrifice in seeking to uphold democracy and the rule of law must never be forgotten.
'We must remember too that the vast majority of deaths during the Troubles, around 90%, were perpetrated by terrorist organisations - in the substance of this report, by the Provisional IRA.
'As this is an 'interim' report, I will not comment at this time on behalf of the Government on the detail of the report. It contains several specific, very serious allegations that remain subject to consideration by the courts.
'It would not be right for the Government to make any comment on the substance of the Interim Report until the conclusion of litigation related to it. I note the recent decisions made by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland in relation to files passed to them by Operation Kenova, which once again go to show how difficult it is to achieve criminal justice outcomes in legacy cases.
'Due to numerous related civil cases, however, that remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time. There is also the prospect of appeals against any of the recent decisions made by the Director for Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
'I would like to put on record again my deepest sympathy with all the families who lost loved ones during the Troubles - including as a result of the actions of the Provisional IRA.'
Downing Street said it would not comment on the report published by Operation Kenova until the inquiry had completed its work.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said: 'We would want to extend our deepest sympathies with all the families who lost loved ones during this very dark period in Northern Ireland and it's important we do not forget the thousands of victims, their families and neighbours from all communities who have suffered as a result.
'On this interim report, it would not be right to comment on the substance of it while it is an interim report.
'We will respond in full in due course following the full and final report and also following the conclusion of litigation which is related to the substance of this report.'
Meanwhile, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson questioned whether the £40 million spent on the investigation could have been better spent resourcing proactive policing in Northern Ireland.
'The work of the police, army or the security services was a just cause. Their job was to undermine terrorists,' he said.
'The fact that the security services had so many agents working at the top of the PIRA, is testament to their success. Whilst having lessons to learn for the Government, the report reminds us that the intelligence agencies had infiltrated the PIRA to such an extent that they rendered the organisation almost inoperable.'
The daughter of an IRA victim today insisted Operation Kenova has not failed victims, despite the lack of prosecutions.
The body of Belfast woman Caroline Moreland, a 34-year-old Catholic mother of three, was found near Rosslea, Co Fermanagh, in July 1994.
Shauna Moreland was 10-years-old at the time of her mother's death. She said: 'If these cases had been properly investigated at the time there could have been prosecutions.
'We have been failed by the system since 1994 and it was only when our cases were moved outside Northern Ireland that we got a process we could believe in.
'Right from the start, Jon Boutcher told us that Kenova would be a victims-first approach and that's what he gave us.'
She added: 'There was nothing until Kenova gave what my mother deserved. They showed that my mum mattered and she was not just a statistic.'
Responding to the Kenova report, Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long said: 'I welcome the publication today of the Operation Kenova interim report.
'Investigating legacy issues can be very challenging and time consuming for all involved and can be painful and distressing for those directly affected.
'This has been a long and difficult journey for those families seeking the truth about what happened to their loved ones.
'I sincerely hope that today brings some measure of comfort for them and that they find some value in the interim report. No doubt everyone involved will wish to take time to fully understand the contents and any associated implications for them.'
Controversy has surrounded the activities of Freddie Scappaticci ever since he was exposed in the press as Stakeknife in 2003.
Born in the Markets area of West Belfast, the son of Italian immigrants, he began working as a bricklayer but in 1971 aged 25, he was interned without trial, along with many of the next generation of Republicans including Gerry Adams.
When he was released in 1974 he was a volunteer in the Provisionals and by 1980 he had joined the Internal Security Unit (ISU), which was tasked with rooting out suspected informers.
It was informally known as the nutting squad due to the way informers were shot in the head after being tried in a kangaroo court.
Scappaticci's first involvement with British Intelligence is believed to have been in 1978, when he is said to have volunteered to become an informer after being assaulted in an argument with a senior IRA comrade.
His first contact was with the RUC's Special Branch, but when the British later formed the shadowy Force Research unit to co-ordinate Army intelligence, Stakeknife became their best asset.
Stakeknife was said to have provided a goldmine of intelligence to the British, including allowing them to identify IRA members involved in the kidnapping of wealthy Irish supermarket magnate Ben Dunne in 1981, as well as those who tried to abduct Canadian business tycoon Galen Weston in 1983.
One of Scappaticci's most notable claims was that former Sinn Fein leader and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness was involved in the death of Frank Hegarty, an IRA man killed by them in 1986 as an informer after they blamed him for the discovery of a huge Libyan arms cache by the Gardai.
According to other sources, Hegarty himself was an FRU agent, and Scappaticci was involved in his torture and murder, to protect his own skin.
Scappaticci is alleged to have worked closely with his FRU handlers in the 1980s and 1990s to protect and promote his own position within the IRA, with accusations that the FRU even killed individuals who might have exposed Scappaticci as an informer.
He was unmasked as Stakeknife by journalists in May 2003, but at first refused to leave Belfast and brazenly denied the claim.
Hunted by his IRA enemies from Cyprus to Canada, he is believed to have been whisked to the UK by MI5 and settled in Guildford, an affluent town in the heart of Surrey's stockbroker belt.
Last year a BBC documentary uncovered a witness statement from a man who was kidnapped and taken to a house in Belfast in which he claims to have heard Scappaticci boasting of a previous murder.
Sandy Lynch, a suspected informer, told how he was stripped and tied to a chair as Scappaticci stood behind him and described how he would be tortured and murdered.
'He said that I would wake up hung upside down in a cowshed and he would talk to me the way that he wanted to talk to me, that he would skin me alive and that no one would hear me squealing,' Mr Lynch said in his statement revealed to The Spy Who Got Away With Murder, a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight investigation.
'He tapped me two or three times on the back of my head and said: ''You'll get it right there . . . like that b*****d Fenton.'' He said that he had done it.'
Joe Fenton was an estate agent in Belfast who was killed in 1989 after being savagely interrogated by the IRA over his work as a police informer.
His murder took place in the same house where Mr Lynch was interrogated before being rescued when police raided the property.
He later gave evidence against his abductors in court before going into the witness protection scheme.
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