Freddie Scappaticci: The life, activities and murders of an IRA double agent

January 12th, 1946: Frederico “Freddie” Scappaticci is born to Danny Scappaticci and Mary Murray. The family live on Joy Street, in the Markets area of Belfast.

Scappaticci displays sporting prowess as a youngster: at 14 years old, he trials with Nottingham Forest, but returns to Belfast three weeks later, homesick.

He later begins working on Belfast’s building sites as a bricklayer.

October 4th, 1966: Scappaticci marries Sheila Cunningham in St Malachy’s Church, in central Belfast.

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August 1969: Scappaticci joins the Provisional IRA some time after loyalist attacks on nationalist areas of Belfast at the beginning of the Troubles. He rises through the ranks and becomes Officer Commanding (OC) of the Markets.

August 9th, 1971: Scappaticci is apprehended by British soldiers during a raid on his home in the Markets. He is interned without trial, firstly at Crumlin Road Gaol, before transfer to Long Kesh. He is interned with other republican heavyweights such as Ivor Bell and Gerry Adams.

January 1974: Scappaticci is released from custody and immediately reports back to the IRA for active service. He continues to rise up the ranks of the Belfast IRA.

August 1974: Scappaticci is rearrested and returned to Long Kesh. The Belfast Telegraph runs the story on its front page: “Troops capture top IRA officer.”

[ Stakeknife: The inside story of IRA double agent Freddie Scappaticci ]

December 5th, 1975: Scappaticci is released from Long Kesh, along with many other republican internees, as the British government ends its policy of internment without trial in Northern Ireland.

Late 1976: Scappaticci returns to IRA activity.

1978: Scappaticci allegedly becomes an informer for the British security services. There are various theories as to why he turned: one story has Scappaticci offering his services to the British after being viciously beaten up by IRA Volunteers following a row with a senior member. Another version has it that he was blackmailed into becoming an agent, possibly over his interest in hardcore pornography. He also could have been turned after he was arrested for involvement in a tax fraud scheme.

1978: The IRA’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), better known as the Nutting Squad, is established. The Nutting Squad is tasked with preventing infiltration of the IRA by British security services. Scappaticci joins the ISU, initially as second-in-command, some time after it is formed. During his involvement with the Nutting Squad, it is alleged that Scappaticci played a role in up to 30 murders, sometimes pulling the trigger himself. It is also alleged that British security services allowed others to die, including British agents, in order to protect Scappaticci, the “golden egg” inside the IRA, as he is described by a security services source.

1980: Scappaticci allegedly comes under the control of the Force Research Unit (FRU), a secretive arm of the British Army operating in Northern Ireland.

1983/4: Scappaticci replaces John Joe Magee as OC of the Nutting Squad.

January 1990: Scappaticci is involved in the interrogation of Alexander “Sandy” Lynch, an RUC special branch informer, at a house in the Lenadoon area of Belfast. Police raid the house during Lynch’s interrogation, but after Scappaticci leaves the property. Eight republicans face charges over the Sandy Lynch incident, including Danny Morrison, Sinn Féin’s head of publicity. Despite fingerprint evidence linking Scappaticci to the interrogation, he avoids prosecution. Scappaticci goes on the run in the Republic.

1991: Scappaticci allegedly ceases IRA involvement after a falling out.

1995: The FRU releases Stakeknife from his duties, some time after the IRA ceasefire of 1994.

August 1999: A report appears in the Sunday Times detailing the existence of Stakeknife, the code name for a British intelligence services agent that operated at a senior level within the IRA for years. The report is sourced from Ian Hurst, a former FRU agent.

May 2003: Newspaper reports in Scotland and Ireland identify Scappaticci as Stakeknife. Scappaticci speaks to reporters at a press conference in his solicitor’s Falls Road office, categorically denying the allegations against him. He initially says he will stay in Belfast, but later flees to Britain. He enters witness protection. The media is prohibited from reporting information that could suggest where he lives, or to show images of what he looks like, by way of a court order.

[ Operation Kenova: ‘Insufficient evidence’ to provide prosecutions against four people ]

2016: Operation Kenova is launched. The criminal investigation seeks to establish whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary failed to investigate as many as 18 murders to protect Stakeknife. It will seek to establish whether Stakeknife committed serious crimes – murders, attempted murders and unlawful imprisonments – while working as an agent of British security services, and investigate other alleged crimes committed by British security services personnel. Jon Boutcher, former chief constable of Bedfordshire Police, is to lead the investigation.

December 2018: Scappaticci, now aged 72, appears before Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where he is convicted of possessing extreme pornography, including images of bestiality. After admitting the charges, he receives a three-month suspended sentence.

October 2nd, 2019: Jon Boutcher sends files to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) recommending that Stakeknife, among others, be considered for prosecution.

April 2023: Freddie Scappaticci dies from natural causes, aged 77.

February 29th, 2024: The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland decided that there will be no prosecutions out of the seven-year Kenova police investigation. The PPS said the final files reviewed by Kenova yielded insufficient evidence to prosecute seven alleged IRA members and five former soldiers who worked with the FRU, including three soldiers who handled agents. None of the 28 files submitted by the Operation Kenova team to the PPS led to prosecutions.

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