“Maybe your client is understating his importance.”

Yesterday Dublin High Court rejected an application by Freddie Scappaticci, who denies he was a British army agent within the Provisional IRA known as “Stakeknife”, for a judicial review of the Smithwick Tribunal’s decision to allow witness Kevin Fulton to give evidence from behind a screen – and for a halt in the hearing of that evidence until the matter was resolved to Scappaticci’s satisfaction.

Today, the Smithwick Tribunal continued to hear evidence from Kevin Fulton – a former British army agent also known as Peter Keeley.

And this afternoon Scappaticci’s solicitor asked Judge Peter Smithwick for a second counsel to represent his client.

The BBC report notes the following exchange

Counsel for Mr Scappaticci, Martin O’Rourke, applied for a second counsel for his client – who has denied the allegations made against him

The chairman of the tribunal, Judge Peter Smithwick, said he would consider that request if Mr Scappaticci would agree to give a statement to the tribunal and turn up to give evidence.

“That is being given active consideration by my client,” replied Mr O’Rourke.

And here’s part of Kevin Fulton’s earlier cross-examination by Scappaticci’s legal representative  – from the BBC report.

Mr Fulton was also cross-examined by Martin O’ Rourke, legal counsel for Mr Scappaticci.

“Do you deliberately overstate your own importance,” Mr O’Rourke asked.

“No, I am not as important or unimportant as anyone else” Mr Fulton replied. “Maybe your client is understating his importance.”

During heated exhanges Mr Fulton told Mr Scappaticci’s legal counsel that it was an “actual fact” that your client “is an informer and he is ‘Stakeknife'”.

If Scappaticci does appear at the Tribunal, and it’s still only an ‘if’ at this stage, presumably – given the injunction he secured in 2006, and which was still in force in 2008 – he too will require the use of a screen…

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