BELFAST (Reuters) – A Belfast man accused of being Britain’s highest-ranking informer within the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has died, an official leading an investigation into his alleged activities said on Tuesday.
Freddie Scappaticci, allegedly a leading member of the IRA’s feared internal discipline unit, the “Nutting Squad”, which interrogated suspected informers, left Northern Ireland in 2003 after newspapers named him as the British agent “Stakeknife”.
Scappaticci, who lost a legal bid to force British ministers to publicly clear him of being a double agent in 2003, always denied the allegation. The identity of “Stakeknife” had been a source of speculation in Belfast for years.
“We were made aware last week of the passing of Frederick Scappaticci. We are working through the implications of his death with regards to our ongoing casework,” Jon Boutcher, the head of Operation Kenova, a police-commissioned probe into the alleged activities of “Stakeknife”, said in a statement.
“We also recognise that people may now feel more able to talk to the Kenova team following the death of Mr Scappaticci, who had long been accused by many of being involved in the kidnap, murder and torture of potential IRA informants during The Troubles.”
The IRA was responsible for more than half the 3,600 deaths during three decades of sectarian conflict in the British-ruled province that was largely ended by the signing of the Good Friday peace accord 25 years ago this week.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, editing by Padraic Halpin and Alistair Bell)