On 20 March 2023, Freddie Scappaticci died at age 77, taking with him one of the most controversial secrets of the Irish conflict. For decades, the Belfast native had occupied an extraordinary position: a senior operative in the Provisional IRA's Internal Security Unit—colloquially known as the "Nutting Squad"—while simultaneously reporting to British military intelligence under the codename "Stakeknife."
Scappaticci's role in the IRA's feared interrogation and execution unit made him invaluable to his handlers in the Force Research Unit (FRU). From the 1970s onwards, he allegedly participated in torture sessions, interrogations, and the ordering of executions of suspected informers. According to the IRA's internal procedures, victims were typically shot in the back of the head only after approval from the IRA Army Council. Yet throughout this period, Scappaticci was simultaneously reporting directly to British intelligence—a position so sensitive that MI5 allegedly established a dedicated office solely to handle his intelligence.
The financial commitment to protecting Scappaticci was substantial. Rumors suggest his handlers paid him at least £80,000 annually and maintained a bank account for him in Gibraltar. But the true cost of his protection would be measured in lives.
Operation Kenova, launched by the UK government in 2014, investigated whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had deliberately failed to investigate up to 18 murders to safeguard Scappaticci's cover. The investigation expanded significantly after his arrest in January 2018 on suspicion of being Stakeknife—a claim neither Scappaticci nor the IRA ever formally acknowledged, though it was widely accepted as accurate by security analysts and journalists.
The Kenova Report, released in 2024, examined Scappaticci's involvement in approximately 20 murders carried out while he remained under British protection. The central moral question haunting investigators was blunt: Did the intelligence he provided justify the blood spilled?
British officials and some defence analysts have argued that Scappaticci may have saved more lives than he took. His intelligence allegedly disrupted IRA operations, prevented attacks, and provided the British security forces with unprecedented insight into republican movements. From this perspective, his role—however morally troubling—was part of the calculus of counterinsurgency during the conflict.
