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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Shane Harrison

More lives lost than saved in Troubles due to British spy, report finds

Sir Iain Livingston, of Operation Kenova (left), Northern Ireland’s chief constable, Jon Boutcher (centre), and and Chris Todd, the deputy chief constable (right) at a press conference
Sir Iain Livingston, of Operation Kenova (left), Northern Ireland’s chief constable, Jon Boutcher (centre), and Chris Todd, the deputy chief constable (right) at a press conference on Friday. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty

More lives were lost than saved because of the activities of a man alleged to have been the highest-ranking British intelligence agent in the IRA during the Northern Ireland Troubles, according to a seven-year investigation into his activities.

The Kenova report published on Friday finds that the agent Stakeknife saved “between high single figures and low double figures” of lives but “nowhere near hundreds [as] sometimes claimed”.

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