US EditionWhitehall censors report on top British agent’s IRA crimes
Operation Kenova found firm evidence linking Stakeknife to 13 IRA murders and 12 abductions, but UK government blocked naming him to protect intelligence sources.
- On Tuesday, Operation Kenova will publish conclusions after a £40 million probe that found strong evidence linking Freddie Scappaticci to 13 IRA murders and 12 abductions, but Whitehall censored the report by invoking NCND to block formal naming.
- The government invoked NCND to justify non-disclosure, insisting on shielding agent identities while Kenova found loyalty to Stakeknife often outweighed preventing killings.
- Handlers removed the agent when police sought questioning, taking Stakeknife on holiday and he later lived under MI5 protection in England for 20 years before dying in Surrey; the High Court sealed his will for 70 years this year.
- Victims' families will be enraged, and a group of 12 families are suing police and government departments while Jon Boutcher has called for a review of NCND, which he says obstructs justice.
- Set up in 2016, Operation Kenova investigates Stakeknife, whose activity dates to the late 1970s–early 1990s and is widely identified as Freddie Scappaticci, raising accountability questions amid more than 3,600 Troubles deaths.
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9 Articles
‘They knew’ - Victims of IRA executioner condemn British collusion
“My brother endured 11 days of unspeakable horror before he was killed. My father walked the streets of Dublin for days hoping to bump into him. And all the time, the [British] authorities knew he wasn’t coming back. He was gone.” Moira Todd was speaking after the publication on Tuesday of a police report about Operation Kenova, which took seven years to complete, cost £40 million and involved over 60 detectives. Yet it was banned from officiall…
Late Release of MI5 Stakeknife Files a ‘Significant Failure’, Report Says
MI5’s initial failure to disclose all it knew about the Army’s top spy in the Provisional IRA during the Troubles was a “significant failure”, an independent report into the activities of Stakeknife has said. The final report of Operation Kenova said that MI5 had “earlier and greater knowledge” of Stakeknife than it had at first stated. The UK Government has been urged to name Stakeknife, with Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Cons…
Government urged to identify top IRA spy codenamed 'Stakeknife' after 'crimes of the worst kind'
A new report into the activities of the top British spy inside the IRA during The Troubles has said that he 'committed crimes of the worst possible kind”, including torture and murder, and should be publicly named by the UK government.
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