Bereaved family intend to apply to access Scappaticci will
In 2003, media reports claimed that Scappaticci had spied on the IRA for the British government, and that while working for both organisations, 'was responsible for the torture and murder of dozens of alleged IRA informers'.
Scappaticci, from west Belfast, had always denied the claims before his death aged 77 in 2023.
In a ruling on Monday, Sir Julian Flaux ordered that Scappaticci's will should be sealed for 70 years, meaning that its contents will not be made public.
The judge said that this is the first time, except for members of the royal family, where a court has ordered that a will not be made open to public inspection in the way the document would usually be.
He said: 'There is nothing in the will, which is in fairly standard form, which could conceivably be of interest to the public or the media.'
On Tuesday, solicitor Kevin Winters said his firm acts on behalf of more than 30 plaintiffs in ongoing High Court proceedings against the State and Scappaticci.
He said the existence of a will 'points to this man having assets and funds, the origin of which will greatly interest the next of kin of so many murder victims'.
'We are now instructed to look at making applications to the High Court in Belfast to access the will,' he said.
'All our clients will have a vested interest in the out workings of its contents as they will likely touch upon liability in the cases, as well as determining which defendant may be liable to pay out damages.
'We shouldn't forget that, as well as the State agencies, families are suing Freddie Scappaticci on the basis that he's a mark for damages.
'That entitlement to continue the actions didn't end with Stakeknife's death.
'The cases against his estate continue, so we're interested in the out workings of this testamentary document.'
Mr Winters added that the families 'won't settle in being told that the details of his will are to be shelved for 70 years'.
'They've battled for too long now and won't be easily fobbed off in trying to get more information,' he said.
'Their interest will be piqued all the more on the revelation that a number of years ago we queried Scappaticci's legal aid status, only to be told that he was in receipt of state benefits.
'We now intend to revisit the circumstances in which this State-funded killer was able to claim State benefits to support his legal aid status in defending the ongoing tranche of cases against him.
'From the sale of his house in Guildford, he presents as a person of means.
'That has to be the subject of an investigation and to that end, we look forward to a renewed judicial scrutiny in Belfast into Stakeknife's finances.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Steven Cook 'confession' could help crack case of Brit found dead in Greek well
Steven Cook went missing after a night out with pals in Greece in 2005 and his remains were found in a well years later - an alleged 'confession' could help solve the mystery into his death A British man allegedly confessed to the murder of another tourist who disappeared on holiday 20 years ago. Steven Cook, then 20, vanished while on a night out with pals in Crete, Greece, on September 1, 2005. The 20-year-old, from Sandbach, Cheshire, had been on his first ever holiday without his family but disaster struck after he was not heard from for more than a decade, despite desperate pleas on both UK and Greek TV. Steven's dead body was eventually found in a well in Crete in 2017 but the circumstances around his shock death have remained a mystery - but a bombshell update could give his heartbroken family answers. It comes after a 3-year-old girl was found dead on a beach in Greece by a horrified passer-by. Steven had been out with pals on the night he went missing but he left the pub they were in by himself, before he vanished. He was last seen in another bar in Malia, Crete, asking for directions to the hotel he was staying in - Steven then walked in the wrong direction and was not seen alive again. The mystery into Steven's whereabouts continued for years and his heartbroken parents Norman and Pat, both 73, had put out a €7,000 reward for information into his disappearance. His remains were discovered by workers near a cemetery in Malia in February 2017. Some of Steven's belongings, including a disposable camera, belt and cloth, were also found with his remains. Despite finding his body, questions remain as to how the British tourist died and ended up in the well. This mystery could soon be solved after the lawyer for the dead Brit, Yiannis Konstantoudakis, claimed an email about an alleged confession into Steven's apparent murder was sent to Cheshire Police last year, according to The Sun. The ex-wife of a 38-year-old Brit reportedly claimed her former partner admitted to killing Steven in a rant while high on drugs after his body was found in 2017. The ex-wife alleged her partner said he had gotten into a fight with another young man in Malia in 2005 while drunk and the victim died after being hit on the head. She also claimed her ex said he threw the dead body into a well after the alleged brawl. The woman, who has not been named, claimed she had two silver beads from a bracelet allegedly belonging to Steven, from the night he died - the victim's family has not identified the bracelet. The woman claimed her ex had a breakdown after Steven's remains were discovered and even threatened to kill himself. The family's lawyer said he was wary of her claims due to the huge gap between 2017 and now, but added the bombshell information could still be credible. The 38-year-old British man has denied any involvement in Steven's death and told British police he was not in Crete at the same time as the victim, according to local newspaper Parapolitika. Konstantoudakis said he fears the case could be closed in September, despite this alleged major update, if there are no more developments. Cheshire Police told The Sun it "is aware of the developments in the investigation into the death of Steven Cook".
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
British passenger's lewd behaviour forced my flight to turn around
As witnessed by writer Esther Krakue, a British passenger was removed from an aircraft at New York's JFK airport after reportedly engaging in lewd behaviour and causing the flight to be delayed by several hours When a pilot calmly announces that you're turning back to your origin airport, there are only a handful of reasons you expect to hear: a small technical issue, a medical emergency, maybe even a security threat. What you don't expect is what really happened on my flight this week: a story that still feels too surreal to believe. About an hour into our journey, just as we were nearing the Canadian border, the captain came over the tannoy. "A small technical issue," he said, meant we needed to return to JFK so engineers could take a look. The flight attendants reassured us it wasn't dangerous, but my stomach dropped anyway. I pictured some vital system malfunctioning, engines cutting out mid-air, or the worst-case scenario- the plane plummeting from the sky. As we descended, other possibilities crossed my mind. It comes after a British man claimed 'I moved from UK to Benidorm – price of a pint and Full English left me floored'. Perhaps someone on board was gravely ill. Perhaps ambulances would be waiting when we landed, [as Esther Krakue previously wrote in the Express]. What I didn't expect to see were two police cars pulling up outside the aircraft. No engineers. No paramedics. Just flashing blue lights and a handful of serious-looking officers. Then the whispers started. A young man, apparently British (to my utter horror - because I was hoping to chalk this up to "one of those crazy Yanks" stories), had allegedly spent the flight engaging in behaviour so vile it left an entire cabin reeling. According to fellow travellers, he approached a complete stranger with the crude proposition, "Ever had a hand job on a plane?" and, following rejection, allegedly exposed himself and began openly pleasuring himself, even displaying explicit images of himself on his mobile and attempting to touch the passenger seated next to him. After considerable persuasion from the cabin crew, he eventually disembarked to meet the waiting police officers below. No handcuffs were involved, just a swift, subdued departure - but the harm had already been inflicted. The entire aircraft had been grounded for hours because one individual couldn't control his trousers or his urges properly. It would be reassuring to believe this was an exceptional incident, a singular act of degeneracy at 35,000 feet. However, it increasingly appears otherwise. Only last week, a pair grabbed headlines for engaging in sexual activity during a flight. Increasingly, public venues - trains, aircraft, even dining establishments - appear to suffer from individuals behaving in ways they wouldn't have contemplated a decade earlier. Indecency is shedding its embarrassment element, and the remainder of us are being compelled to observe it. Subsequently, we departed once more with fresh crew members, the aircraft itself remaining perfectly operational. On the other hand, it seems like humanity is on a downward spiral. No passenger should ever board a flight expecting to become an unwilling participant in a live-action, low-budget adult film. And no one should have to explain, with a weary and vacant expression, that their flight was delayed not by weather or mechanical failure, but by a fellow Brit treating economy class like a Pornhub livestream. If only I could say it was an American this time.
Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Windrush hero trapped in limbo for 26 years finally allowed home to Britain
Windrush hero George Lee left Britain to teach in Poland for two years in 1997. When he tried to enter Britain, his visa was rejected. Now 26 years later, he's finally back home. When Windrush hero George Lee touched down at Birmingham Airport last week, it marked the end of 26 years in exile – and the close of yet another heartbreaking chapter in the Windrush Scandal. For 26 years, George has been trying to get back to the UK after going to teach in Poland for two years in 1997. When he left the country John Major was still Prime Minister, the country was reeling from 'mad cow disease' and Princess Diana was still alive. He has been unable to visit his mother or his brother's graves and has lost touch with his sisers. And he has never been able to access the state pension he is entitled to. "When you're in this position, every single morning when you wake up you have a wrench in your gut," he says, speaking for the first time about his ordeal. "No matter how long it went on I had that feeling. It's about belonging nowhere. There's nothing you can do about it – your constitutional and human rights have been stripped away and that leaves you vulnerable. I started adopting Theresa May's epithet that I was a citizen of nowhere." Born a Commonwealth citizen in Kingston Jamaica, George was brought to the 'mother country' at the age of eight by his aunt, to start a new life in London. George spent 36 years in the UK before he went to Poland. He went to school here, got into grammar school, set up his own business, got married and eventually became a teacher, all in Britain. But after heading to Poland in 1997, he found himself locked out. He was told he'd need a special visa to re-enter the UK but when he tried to get it from the British embassy in Krakow he was refused. Instead, George, now 72, spent the next 26 years stuck in Poland. George is one of many Windrush heroes campaigners now believe may be trapped in third countries by Tory 'hostile environment' policies that endure long after Theresa May's government. Uncovered in 2017, the Windrush Scandal saw thousands like George – members of the 'Windrush Generation' who came here to build Britain – wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights. Trapped in Poland, George made repeated attempts to access support. It was only when a Windrush campaign group heard about his plight that he was able to get help raising his case with the British Home Office. With their support, last week he finally made it home to the UK. "From the moment they refused to allow me to come home to the UK, everything changed," he says. "It's dehumanising, because you create a situation where people can't easily get a home, get a job… when you're in a third country that is hostile, that's very difficult. My landlord was terrible. I didn't have utilities for three months. There is no legislation that shows I'm not a British citizen. When I was 18, I was so proud of Great Britain, I would never have believed that the British government would do this to me. The British government took away our rights." He moved to Poland to take up a two-year contract teaching at a private English language school. "I got offered a job that I couldn't refuse," he explains. "I did really well, and got seconded to a university. When I decided to come back, I'd gone slightly over the two years I'd planned to be away, so I was told to go and get a visa for my re-entry back to the UK. But I went to the British Embassy, and they would not let me in the building." Desperate, he travelled to another Polish city, Warsaw, to try there. "I went to Warsaw and it was the same. I tested it by trying embassies in other places…Prague, Switzerland. I realised that any British embassy you go to, as a Windrush person, you always meet a block. I feel that when the British government were planning the Immigration Act 1971, they made the decision that they were going to get black people out of the United Kingdom. "That is the root of the scandal." George gave up. "I was resigned for many, many years. I was stuck." When he read about the emerging Windrush scandal, George hoped it might help. "It was a real knock when the Windrush scandal broke and I went back to the British Embassy, but they wouldn't let me in," he says. "They sent a Polish person out to see me on the pavement." Then, last year, George made contact with Bishop Desmond Jaddoo – chair of the Windrush National Organisation – who spoke to the Home Office on his behalf and started compiling evidence of George's life in the UK. "We are only just discovering people in these third countries – there will be more Georges," Bishop Desmond says. "The Immigration Act allowed people from the Commonwealth to go in to Europe and work which many people did. The problem was that then their status was called into question." Bishop Desmond's team were able to gather his school records, national insurance number, old passport and marriage certificate to build his case. "We were able to map his life from the day he arrived in the UK to when he went to Poland," he says. "No-one had bothered to look at George's case." Once they were made aware, Bishop Jaddoo says the Home Office was helpful, arranging George's flight home, temporary accommodation and to transport his few possessions. And the Labour government say the tide is turning with the appointment of senior pastor Reverend Clive Foster MBE as the first Windrush Commissioner – to fulfil a manifesto commitment to achieve justice for victims. A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases. However, when this government arrived a year ago, it pledged to do things differently. For 77 years, the Windrush community has made an immense contribution to our country, weaving a vital thread in the fabric of British society. We have made a longstanding commitment to ensure victims of the Home Office Windrush scandal are heard, justice is sped up, and that the compensation scheme is run effectively." Since landing on British soil in Birmingham last week, George has begun the process of trying to access his state pension, find a GP and look for his two sisters. He also plans to visit his mum and younger brother's graves in north London. "I just want to get settled and I want to join the fight for our rights," George says. "I don't now have to work any more – which means I can spend my time trying to help others."
