Kenova report set to conclude murders involving double agent Stakeknife could have been stopped

Who was Freddie Scappaticci?

He was the grandson of an Italian emigrant, Bernardo Scappaticci and his wife Marie Magliocco who emigrated from central Italy to Belfast in the late 19th century.

Freddie Scappaticci was born on January 12th 1946, and grew up in the Markets area of Belfast as the third eldest of five children.

Despite being of diminutive stature, Scappaticci was known as a violent bully from an early age. He was one of the “69ers” – those who joined after the communal riots of August 1969 in Belfast. He was picked up during internment in 1971 and jailed for four years.

He was released in January 1974 and began a lucrative career as a bricklayer. Some sources suggest that his decision to become an informer was linked a tax scam he was involved in which could have seen him spend eight years in prison.

A report into the activities of the British army’s top IRA agent during the Troubles will be published on Friday morning.

The independent report on the high-ranking double agent Stakeknife – widely identified as senior Belfast IRA member Freddie Scappaticci – has taken seven years and cost approximately £40 million.

Operation Kenova, the findings of which will be unveiled in a Belfast hotel at 11am, investigated whether police in Northern Ireland failed to investigate as many as 18 murders to protect Scappaticci, a former Belfast bricklayer regarded as the “golden egg” of British military intelligence.

Kenova has examined the activities of Stakeknife within the Provisional IRA. The investigation has examined crimes such as murder and torture, and the role played by the security services, including MI5.

Scappaticci, who was connected to 18 murders, died last year at the age of 77. He will not be named in the report due to a UK government policy of “neither confirm nor deny” (NCND) relating to sensitive intelligence issues.

The Irish Times understands that the report is expected to find that multiple lives could have been saved during the Troubles, had State forces acted on intelligence.

The North’s Public Prosecution Service announced in February that five retired British soldiers and seven alleged IRA members investigated as part of the inquiry will not be prosecuted due to “insufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction”.

The PA news agency reports the 200-page report will call for apologies from the UK Government and the IRA to bereaved families and surviving victims.

It is also expected to call for a review into the UK Government policy of neither confirming nor denying sensitive information relating to intelligence issues.

The Kenova investigation was originally headed up by Jon Boutcher but he left the position to take up the role of chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

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