Naming Stakeknife would 'send signal' to other rogue agents

Formal identification of the spy known as Stakeknife would send a message that state agents' anonymity will not be protected if they "cross a line", MPs have said.

The government has never confirmed the real name of Stakeknife - the Army agent who murdered at least 14 people while working at the heart of the IRA during the Troubles.

Now, MPs on Westminster's Northern Ireland Affairs Committee have called on the government to drop its ongoing refusal to confirm or deny Stakeknife's identity.

The chair of the committee, Tonia Antoniazzi, said the lack of formal identification was having "a profound and lasting effect" on Stakeknife's victims and their families.

The cross-party committee argued state agents who were "guilty of conduct beyond acceptable limits" should not be "shielded from the consequences of their actions".

"By naming Stakeknife, the government can send a strong signal that agents who cross a line will not receive the protection of anonymity," Antoniazzi said.

The MPs released their own report into the issue on Monday, after taking evidence from officers who led the nine-year investigation into Stakeknife, known as Operation Kenova.

The committee said they had been reassured that naming Stakeknife would not put active state agents at risk, nor compromise the future recruitment of new agents.

In a statement, the government said the "behaviour described in Operation Kenova's final report is deeply disturbing".

"It should not have happened, and in recent decades there have been significant reforms to agent handling practice, including through legislation."

It said that the "use of agents is nowadays subject to strict regulation, overseen by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal".

It added that the government is not yet in a position to formally respond to the request by Operation Kenova to name Stakeknife as "there remains ongoing litigation and consideration of the recent judgment in the Thompson Supreme Court case".

"The Secretary of State has committed to updating Parliament on the matter as soon as he is able to."

Kenova was initially led by the now Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Jon Boutcher but is now headed up by Sir Iain Livingstone.

In a statement Boutcher said he endorses the recommendation calling for the government identification of Stakeknife.

"Sir Iain Livingstone and I gave evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in January and today I welcome their report.

"This would bring much needed closure to many victims and families," he said.

Boutcher said the application of neither confirming nor denying (NCND) must not be allowed to cover up acts of wrongdoing by the State.

Sir Iain has also welcomed the report: "As I made clear in the Kenova final report, we believe there is a compelling ethical case to reveal Stakeknife's true identity.

Who was Freddie Scappaticci?

Scappaticci was alleged to have been the most high-ranking British agent within the Provisional IRA, who was given the codename Stakeknife by the Army.

He was the grandson of an Italian immigrant who came to Northern Ireland in the 1940s search of work.

Scappaticci was raised in the Irish republican stronghold of west Belfast where he would find work as a bricklayer.

In the late 1970s he was reportedly beaten up by the IRA following a row with a senior member of the paramilitary group.

It was around this time that the Army is believed to have recruited Scappaticci as a paid spy within the IRA.

By the 1980s, he was a leading figure within the IRA's internal security unit which was set up to hunt down informers who were leaking information to the police.

The unit was known as the "nutting squad" because they often shot alleged informers in the head - the nut - before dumping their tortured bodies.

In 2003, media organisations unmasked Scappaticci as Stakeknife - the feared spy who had set up other IRA informers for murder.

Scappaticci denied the allegation but then went into hiding in England, where it is believed he lived for two decades under MI5 protection.

In 2016, the then Bedfordshire Chief Constable Jon Boutcher was appointed to lead a multi-million pound investigation into the activities and handling of Stakeknife.

The nine-year investigation would eventually find MI5 was aware of Stakeknife's "involvement in serious criminality" and received regularly briefings about him.

It also found that his Army handlers twice took him out of Northern Ireland for a holiday "when they knew he was wanted by the [police] for conspiracy to murder".

The Kenova report also said Scappaticci probably took more lives than he saved.

Why will the government not name Stakeknife?

In the UK there is a long-standing state policy of NCND when responding to questions about sensitive national security matters.

NCND has been adopted by successive governments and security services - often they will not even acknowledge if the requested information even exists.

This position is adopted in order to protect the identities of people who operate undercover on behalf of the state, or who take risks to assist the security forces.

But last month, the NI Affairs Committee took evidence from Operation Kenova investigators, who had previously called for Stakeknife to be named.

"Given the reassurances we've heard that active agents won't be put in harm's way and future recruitment won't be compromised, formal identification in this specific instance is appropriate, proportionate and in the public interest," Antoniazzi said.