Terrorists plotting to kill the man named as the British army's top informer inside the IRA would not be halted by a British government declaration on his status, the High Court in Belfast heard yesterday.
As Mr Freddie Scappaticci, the west Belfast republican named as the agent Stakeknife, launched a legal bid to clear his name, lawyers for the Northern Ireland Office insisted it would be pointless for the North's security minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, to break her silence on the matter.
Mr Declan Morgan QC, for the Northern Ireland Office, said: "There's been no attempt to explain whether a statement or utterance by the security minister is likely to make a button of difference to such organisations if they are minded to behave in this outrageous way."
Mr Scappaticci (57) has denied newspaper claims that he was recruited by military intelligence during his career in the republican movement.
The British government has refused to comment on the allegations, stressing that it never speaks publicly about intelligence matters.
However lawyers for Mr Scappaticci yesterday sought permission to press ahead with a judicial review application in the High Court in Belfast aimed at forcing Ms Kennedy to give her assessment.
Mr Michael Lavery QC argued her stance amounted to a failure to protect his client's life, one of the cornerstones of European human rights legislation, he submitted.He rejected a proposal by the government's legal team that Mr Scappaticci should instead mount an appeal under the Data Protection Act for disclosure of all information on him.
"Mr Scappaticci is seeking a simple statement that he wasn't Stakeknife," Mr Lavery said.
Following a 70-minute hearing, Mr Justice Kerr delayed making a ruling on the judicial review application until early next week.
Mr Scappaticci emerged from hiding days after the claims broke to deny he was Stakeknife. He had been an active republican until leaving the movement 13 years ago, he claimed. Sinn Féin has publicly backed his comments and accused faceless members of the security services of trying to wreck the peace process.
In court yesterday, Mr Lavery insisted no threat to national security was involved in such a declaration. His client was fully prepared to take his chances with such a move, he added. "He must be well aware of the risk that the government may give the wrong answer," Mr Lavery said. "He's been consistent in his denial and it's a mark of his confidence in his denial that he's prepared to embark on these proceedings."
Mr Morgan argued that no statement would make any difference to the position in which Mr Scappaticci found himself. "These people are unlikely to give any weight to anything issued by the minister," he said.