Stakeknife interim report released…

After 7 years and 40 million,  the Operation Kenova interim report has been released.

Summary from the BBC

1. A British Army spy operating at heart of the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland probably cost more lives than he saved, an investigation finds
2. Freddie Scappaticci, codenamed Stakeknife, was linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions; he worked in a ruthless IRA unit known as the “nutting squad”
3. UK security forces failed to prevent some murders to try to protect their agents in the IRA, the report says
4. Northern Ireland police chief Jon Boutcher tells victims’ families: “You are not mad, this was happening and this should not have happened”
5. And a lawyer for the families of 12 victims says the report is “a damning indictment of the state”
6. Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill says an apology from the British government “should be forthcoming”
7. Westminster’s Chris Heaton-Harris says he won’t comment on the investigation before legal cases related to it conclude
8. Scappaticci, who died last year, was unmasked in the media in 2003 and went into hiding; he denied he was Stakeknife

You can download the report here…

Brian O'Neill

Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.