Freddie Scappaticci – the man accused of being Stakeknife – dies in England

FREDDIE Scappaticci – the West Belfast man accused of being the British Army's main agent within the IRA, known as Stakeknife – has died.

Mr Scappaticci (77) died and was buried in England last week, it has been confirmed. He fled Belfast after being outed by media outlets in May 2003. He always denied being Stakeknife.

Jon Boutcher, who has been leading an investigation (Operation Kenova) into the activities of Stakeknife, including the role of the British state and MI5, confirmed Mr Scappaticci died last week. Mr Boutcher is due to publish an interim report later this year. 

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Freddie Scappaticci being interview by the Andersonstown News' Robin Livingstone in May 2003

In a statement, victims' group Relatives For Justice – who represent a number of families affected by Boutcher's investigation – tweeted: "Scappaticci was a central part of Britain's dirty war in Ireland. That dirty war was British government policy."

Scapaticci was a central part of Britain’s Dirty War in Ireland.
That Dirty War was British Government policy.
Brit Gov is culpable for human carnage and devastation it over saw.
Policy is Policy is Policy.
The obligation for Accountability doesn’t die and is still required

— Relatives 4 Justice #NeverGivingUp (@RelsForJustice) April 11, 2023

Jon Boutcher said: "We were made aware late last week of the passing of Frederick Scappaticci. We are working through the implications of his death with regard to our ongoing casework, which will be progressed in consultation with victims, bereaved families, advocacy support groups and a wide range of statutory and non-statutory partners."

He added: "We remain committed to providing families with the truth of what happened to their loved ones, and continue to actively pursue criminal charges against several individuals. We will publish an interim report on Kenova's findings this year.

"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. I appeal to anyone with information that might help those impacted by the events we are investigating to contact us in confidence to help families understand what happened during these difficult times."