'More lives lost than saved': why Britain's IRA spy never faced justice
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2024
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
His codename was 'Stakeknife' and the unit he led - ironically in charge of hunting informants like him - was called the 'nutting squad' as it shot people in the head after abducting and torturing them.
Scappaticci never faced trial and lived under witness protection in England until his death last year, aged 77.
Now, a seven-year investigation has concluded his actions probably resulted in "more lives being lost than saved", with the UK government being urged to acknowledge that many murders were avoidable and to apologise to bereaved families.
On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson examines what we know about the British mole and gets reaction to the Operation Kenova report with our senior Ireland correspondent David Blevins.
Podcast producer: Sydney Pead
Interviews producer: Melissa Tutesigensi-Charles
Promotion producer: Jonathan Day
Senior producer: Annie Joyce
Editor: Wendy Parker
Transcript
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| 1:06.0 | He was the double agent at the heart of the Irish Republican Army. |
| 1:08.8 | Freddie Scampitici, codenamed Steakknife, |
| 1:19.0 | was the leader of the IRA unit tasked with rooting out informants, the nutting squad, so called, because they shot those adjudged traitors in the head. |
| 1:30.1 | But whilst he did share useful intelligence, his bosses were frequently made aware of imminent abductions and murders, preventable deaths, which they often failed to act upon, |
| 1:34.1 | so as to preserve that direct link to the heart of the terrorist organisation. |
| 1:39.2 | The justification was that the information stake-knife provided prevented hundreds of deaths. |
| 1:45.8 | But a seven-year investigation has today revealed more lives were lost than were saved, something the families of the victims have suspected for many years. I'm Neil Patterson and on this edition |
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