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#REDIRECT [[Freddie Scappaticci#Stakeknife]] |
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{{other uses|Steak knife (disambiguation)}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} |
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"'''Stakeknife'''" is the code name of a high-level [[Espionage|spy]] who successfully infiltrated the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) while working for the top-secret [[Force Research Unit]] (FRU) of the [[British Army]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Focus: Scappaticci's past is secret no more |work=[[The Times]] |date=18 May 2003 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-683795,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070311005439/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-683795,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 March 2007 |access-date=11 February 2007|location=London}}</ref><ref name="Grauniad, 2003" /> Reports claim that Stakeknife worked for British intelligence for 25 years.<ref name="Grauniad, 2003">{{Cite news |last=Cowan |first=Rosie |title=He did the IRA's dirty work for 25 years - and was paid £80,000 a year by the government |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 May 2003 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,953842,00.html |access-date=11 February 2007 |
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|location=London}}</ref> Stakeknife has been accused of being a [[double agent]] who oversaw the murders of informers within the IRA while working for the British{{Clarify|date=May 2022}}.<ref name="theguardian300118">{{cite news |last1=McDonald |first1=Henry |last2=Cobain |first2=Ian |title=IRA informer 'Stakeknife' arrested in murder investigation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/30/ira-informer-stakeknife-arrested-in-investigation |work=The Guardian |date=30 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref> British officials launched [[Operation Kenova]] to investigate these claims of state involvement in the kidnap, torture and murder of more than 50 individuals, leading to the arrest of [[Freddie Scappaticci]] in January 2018 on accusations that he was Stakeknife—a claim which Scappaticci denied.<ref name="telegraph30912018">{{cite news |last1=Farmer |first1=Ben |title=Army spy 'Stakeknife' who was head of IRA's internal security is arrested in investigation over murders |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/30/army-spy-stakeknife-head-iras-internal-security-arrested-investigation/ |access-date=9 July 2018 |work=The Telegraph |date=30 January 2018}}</ref> |
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{{R from merge}} |
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==Activity== |
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{{R to section}} |
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"Stakeknife" had his own dedicated handlers and agents, and it was suggested that he was important enough that [[MI5]] set up an office dedicated solely to him. Rumours suggested that he was being paid at least £80,000 a year and had a bank account in [[Gibraltar]].<ref name="theguardian2003">{{cite news |last1=Cowan |first1=Rosie |title=He did the IRA's dirty work for 25 years - and was paid £80,000 a year by the government |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/12/northernireland.northernireland1 |access-date=9 July 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=12 May 2003 |language=en}}</ref> |
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Serious allegations have emerged to the effect that the [[British government]] allowed up to 40 people to be killed via the IRA's [[Internal Security Unit]], or "Nutting Squad", to protect his cover.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Murder fear after naming of IRA spy |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=12 May 2003 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1429810/Murder-fear-after-naming-of-IRA-spy.html |access-date=11 February 2007|location=London}}</ref> |
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==Purported exposure== |
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In 1987, [[Sam McCrory (loyalist)|Sam McCrory]], an [[Ulster Defence Association]]/"Ulster Freedom Fighters" member, killed the 66-year-old [[Francisco Notarantonio]] at his home in [[Springfield Road, Belfast|Ballymurphy]] in West Belfast.<ref>Wood, Ian S. ''Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA''. Edinburgh University Press, 2006. p.125</ref> The UDA/UFF had decided to target a senior Belfast IRA member who unbeknownst to them was an informer for the [[Force Research Unit]] (FRU).<ref name="Mullin">{{Cite news|last=Mullin|first=John|date=25 September 2000|title=Was an IRA informer so valuable that murder was committed to protect him?|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/sep/25/northernireland.johnmullin|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref> It has been alleged that FRU agent [[Brian Nelson (Northern Irish loyalist)|Brian Nelson]] gave Notarantonio's name to the UDA/UFF to protect the identity of the real spy.<ref name="Mullin" /> |
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On 11 May 2003, several newspapers named [[Freddie Scappaticci]] as Stakeknife. Scappaticci, born in Belfast to Italian parents, denied the claims and launched an unsuccessful legal action to have the British government state he was not their agent.<ref name="theguardian2003"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Oliver |first=Ted |title='Stakeknife' loses bid to quash spy claim |work=The Guardian |date=19 August 2003 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,1021579,00.html |access-date=11 February 2007|location=London}}</ref> He later left Northern Ireland and was rumoured to be living in [[Cassino, Italy|Cassino]], Italy. There were also reported sightings in [[Tenerife]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Harkin|first=Greg|title=British spy hunted by IRA flees refuge|work=[[The Independent]]|date=9 April 2006|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/ulster/article356668.ece|access-date=11 February 2007|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314015841/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/ulster/article356668.ece|archive-date=14 March 2007 }}</ref> |
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A report in a February 2007 edition of the ''[[Belfast News Letter]]'' reported that a cassette recording allegedly of Scappaticci talking about the number of murders he was involved in via the "Nutting Squad", as well as his work as an Army agent, had been lodged with the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland|PSNI]] in 2004 and subsequently passed to the [[Stevens Inquiries|Stevens Inquiry]] in 2005.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Stakeknife tape emerges after News Letter probe |publisher=Belfast Today |date=5 February 2007 |url=http://www.belfasttoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3425&ArticleID=2023120 |access-date=11 February 2007 }} |
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</ref> |
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The former British Intelligence agent who worked in the [[Force Research Unit|FRU]] known as "[[Martin Ingram]]" has written a book titled ''Stakeknife'' since the original allegations came to light in which it says Scappaticci was the agent in question. |
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In October 2015, it was announced that Scappaticci was to be investigated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland over at least 24 murders.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Stakeknife: Army's most high ranking agent within the IRA to be quizzed about 24 murders |publisher=BBC News |date=21 October 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34594175 |access-date=21 October 2015 }}</ref> In June 2016, it was announced that this investigation would be carried out by [[Bedfordshire Police]] and would examine the possible involvement of members of the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC), [[British Army]] and the British [[MI5|Security Service]] (MI5) in murders carried out by the [[Irish Republican Army|IRA]], and their knowledge of them through the information supplied via Stakeknife.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Stakeknife: Actions of IRA members, agents, Army and police to be examined |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=10 June 2016 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-36494590}}</ref> Scappaticci was arrested in connection with [[Operation Kenova]] in January 2018.<ref name="telegraph30912018"/> |
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On 29 October 2020, the [[Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland]] decided that there was insufficient evidence to put him on trial on charges of perjury.<ref name=guardian-stakeknife-scandal-freddie-scappaticci-not-face-perjury-charge-ira>{{Cite news|title=Stakeknife scandal: Freddie Scappaticci avoids perjury charge|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/29/stakeknife-scandal-freddie-scappaticci-not-face-perjury-charge-ira|last=McDonald|first=Henry|date=29 October 2020|access-date=11 January 2021|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Stephen Herron, the PPS director in the area, also ruled out prosecutions of former members of the security services who are understood to have been his handlers as well as a former member of the PPS.<ref name=guardian-stakeknife-scandal-freddie-scappaticci-not-face-perjury-charge-ira/> This means that there is little chance of him appearing in a criminal trial, despite a multimillion pound investigation into his role as a state agent inside the IRA.<ref name=guardian-stakeknife-scandal-freddie-scappaticci-not-face-perjury-charge-ira/> |
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Scappaticci died in April 2023 without being charged or proven to have been Stakeknife.<ref>{{Cite news|title=freddie-scappaticci-suspected-of-being-stakeknife-spy-in-ira-dies|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/11/freddie-scappaticci-suspected-of-being-stakeknife-spy-in-ira-dies|last=Carroll|first=Rory|date=11 April 2023|access-date=11 April 2023|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* Matthew Teague, (April 2006) "[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/04/double-blind/304710/ Double Blind: The untold story of how British intelligence infiltrated and undermined the IRA]." ''[[The Atlantic]]'' |
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* Greg Harkin and Martin Ingram (2004), ''Stakeknife: Britain's secret agents in Ireland'', O'Brien Press |
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060508042652/http://www.birw.org/Stakeknife.html British Irish Rights Watch Report] |
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* [http://www.stakeknife.eu/ stakeknife.eu] |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.opkenova.co.uk/ Operation Kenova] |
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{{PIRA}} |
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<!--active in that period--> |
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[[Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army]] |
[[Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army]] |
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[[Category:Irish spies during The Troubles (Northern Ireland)]] |
[[Category:Irish spies during The Troubles (Northern Ireland)]] |
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[[Category:Unidentified people]] |
[[Category:Unidentified people]] |
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[[Category:Year of birth unknown]] |
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Latest revision as of 09:34, 22 September 2024
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