The latest chapter of the dirty war has been written, with a state-sponsored serial killer as its main character.
A British Army agent at the heart of the IRA codenamed Stakeknife, real name Freddie Scappaticci, a west Belfast bricklayer who was the son of an Italian immigrant.
A senior member of the IRA's internal security unit, referred to as "the nutting squad" because its many victims were shot in the head.
A paid agent whose job it was to identify, abduct, torture and murder other suspected agents and informers within the IRA.
The bodies of the unit’s victims would be dumped at roadsides with their hands tied and clear signs of the torture they endured, sometimes over a period of weeks.
Their families left to live with the stigma attached to those labelled as "touts" as well as grieving the loss of loved ones.
Many of those the unit murdered were in fact not agents, but their lives were sacrificed to protect others who were.
Others who were informers also had their lives forfeited to protect those deemed to be of greater value to their paymasters.
An interim Operation Kenova report published in March last year concluded that more lives had been lost protecting the agent than were saved by the intelligence material he provided.
Stakeknife was personally linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions.
While he and other IRA members pulled the triggers that ended lives, his handlers in the British security services directed many of his activities, opted not to intervene to save informers who had been abducted, and turned a blind eye to murder.
None of those handlers or members of the IRA’s internal security unit have been prosecuted as the result of a nine year investigation that cost £40 million.
While Stakeknife was largely run by the British Army’s Force Research Unit (FRU), the second and final Operation Kenova report published today reveals that the British security service MI5 also played a significant role, undermining its repeated claims that it had a peripheral role.
It was revealed shortly after the interim report was published that MI5 had failed to disclose hundreds of files of material to the investigation team, claiming they had previously been unaware of the existence of the material.
The report published today says that new material revealed that MI5 had "a much greater awareness and involvement in the running of Stakeknife throughout the entirety of his operation as an agent than previously thought."
It adds that MI5:
- Was aware of Stakeknife’s recruitment from the outset and knew about his identity, role within the IRA and its internal security unit
- Was involved in briefing and tasking Stakeknife via the FRU throughout his operation as an agent and received debriefs on all of his intelligence
- Supported Stakeknife’s operation through the provision of specialist technical support to the FRU
- Had automatic sight of all Stakeknife intelligence and therefore was aware of his involvement in serious criminality.
The report also reveals that MI5 was aware of two occasions when Stakeknife’s British Army handlers took him out of Northern Ireland on holiday, using military aircraft and military identification, when they knew he was wanted by the RUC for murder.
While initially claiming it had a good working relationship with MI5, this final report makes it clear that view has changed.
It's revealed that MI5 personnel knew and had used the combination code for what was supposed to be a secure safe used by Kenova liaison officers working at its Thames House headquarters in London to store classified material. The combination had to be changed.
The report accuses MI5 of trying to "restrict the investigation, run down the clock, avoid any prosecutions relating to Stakeknife and conceal the truth."
MI5 is also believed to have resettled Freddie Scappaticci under a new name in Surrey in England when he fled Northern Ireland after being named in media reports as the agent Stakeknife in 2003.
It's also believed to have provided money for him to buy a house later valued at £1 million and substantial five and six figure payments to cover a pension or annual salary.
What it did not do was provide prosecutors with evidence it was aware of that could have led to him being charged and convicted for his many crimes.
