A west Belfast man who was alleged to have been the British Army’s top mole in the Provisional IRA has died.
Freddie Scappaticci, who was aged in his 70s, always denied that he was the agent Stakeknife.
He died several days ago and was buried last week, sources have told the PA news agency.
Stakeknife worked within the IRA’s notorious “nutting squad” interrogating and killing suspected informers during the Troubles.
The alleged activities of Stakeknife are under investigation in Operation Kenova led by former Bedfordshire chief constable, Jon Boutcher.
The report from the probe into crimes such as murder and torture linked to Stakeknife, and the role played by the security services, including MI5, was due to be published in early 2023.
Last week, it was announced the publication of the report had been delayed.
Mr Boutcher said his team was made aware last week of the death of Mr Scappaticci and are working through the implications of his death and will publish an interim report this year.
“We remain committed to providing families with the truth of what happened to their loved ones and continue to actively pursue criminal charges against several individuals,” he said.
“We will publish an interim report on (Operation) Kenova’s findings this year.
“We also recognise that people may now feel more able to talk to the Kenova team following the death of Mr Scappaticci, who had long been accused by many of being involved in the kidnap, murder and torture of potential PIRA informants during The Troubles.
“I appeal to anyone with information that might help those impacted by the events we are investigating to contact us in confidence to help families understand what happened during these difficult times.”
The son of an Italian immigrant to Belfast, Scappaticci grew up in a Republican part of the city and became involved in the troubles in the early 1970s as rival paramilitary groups terrorised the country killing hundreds of innocent people in bomb and gun attacks.
Among the most controversial cases linked to Scappaticci and the “nutting squad” are those of the disappeared - people kidnapped and killed by the IRA and whose bodies were secretly buried.
The most high-profile case is that of Jean McConville who was kidnapped and murdered by the IRA and secretly buried across the border in the Republic of Ireland in 1972 after she was accused of giving information to British soldiers.
The mother of 10 was taken from her Belfast home at gunpoint, leaving her 10 children alone, and her body was only found in 2003 when a storm disturbed the beach where she was buried.
Kevin Winters, a lawyer representing families of people killed by the Provisional IRA during the Troubles, said Mr Scappaticci’s death would “frustrate many families who have been waiting for over six years on the imminent publication of Mr Boutcher’s independent report known as Operation Kenova”.
He said: “Some initial feedback from clients suggests annoyance about the timing of the death, coming as it does on the cusp of the report’s publication later in the summer. Not only that but the PPS have been deliberating on prosecution decisions in 33 cases referred by Kenova nearly three years ago.
“Clearly the death will have an impact on both the content of the report and whether or not criminal prosecutions go ahead.
“Families of victims will rightly ask questions. Their cynicism is heightened upon learning that news of Scappaticci’s burial seems to have been kept quiet by the authorities over the Easter weekend. People just aren’t happy and that’s only to be expected given the unexpected news.”
He said the death echoed those of other “agents and informants” whose deaths robbed “victims of some semblance of justice”.
The South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) victims’ group said it was “highly regrettable” the report into the alleged activities of Stakeknife was not published before the death of Mr Scappaticci.
SEFF director of services Kenny Donaldson said many families “will have very difficult feelings to navigate through over the coming period”.
“Our thoughts this evening are with those innocents whose loved ones were callously kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the Provisional IRA’s nutting squad as well as wider crimes alleged to have been committed by Freddie Scappaticci,” he added.
