‍Operation Kenova found British security forces knew about imminent IRA abductions but at times failed to protect those whose lives were at risk. 

An exhaustive investigation into the British Army’s top spy in Northern Ireland during a conflict known as ‘The Troubles’ has shot down the myth of Agent Stakeknife as the ‘golden goose’, saying he was likely responsible for the loss of more lives than he saved.

Operation Kenova’s report declined to name Stakeknife, widely believed to be Belfast bricklayer Freddie Scappaticci who died in 2023. He has been linked to more than a dozen murders.

The number of people saved by Stakeknife’s intelligence - either through relocation, warning or other intervention - is between the high single figures and low double figures “and nowhere close to the hundreds sometimes claimed”, according to Operation Kenova’s investigators, who had access to 90 percent of Stakeknife’s written intelligence reports during their seven-year inquiry.

“Crucially, this is not a net estimate because it does not take account of the lives lost as a consequence of Stakeknife’s continued operation as an agent and, from what I have seen, I think it probable that this resulted in more lives being lost than were saved,” according to Jon Boutcher, who headed up Operation Kenova. He is now chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Claims that Stakeknife’s intelligence saved ‘hundreds’ or ‘countless’ lives were apparently derived from assessments by the top-secret Force Research Unit (FRU) of the British Army and based on “unreliable and speculative internal metrics”, Boutcher said, adding that similar, equally exaggerated claims were made about Brian Nelson, another Army agent active in Northern Ireland.

“These claims were widely accepted within the security forces and they have led many on the inside to view the case through rose-tinted spectacles and to feel defensive about Stakeknife’s reputation,” the report states. “In reality, the claims are inherently implausible and should ring alarm bells: any serious security and intelligence professional hearing an agent being likened to ‘the goose that laid the golden eggs’ - as Stakeknife was - should be on the alert because the comparison is rooted in fables and fairy tales.”

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Stakeknife, Britain’s Spy in the IRA

Stakeknife operated as a British Army spy in the 1970s and 1980s during The Troubles, a sustained period of intense sectarian violence in Northern Ireland between predominantly Protestant unionists, who wanted the province to remain in the United Kingdom, and the predominantly Roman Catholic nationalists who wanted Northern Ireland to integrate into the republic of Ireland.

While the report describes Stakeknife as an ‘undoubtedly a valuable asset’ who provided high quality intelligence at considerable risk to himself, his intelligence was not always passed on or acted on, Boutcher found. In some instances, preventable murders were not stopped and those responsible were not brought to justice, a position that Boutcher said would be untenable today. Furthermore, Boutcher said there were undoubtedly occasions when Stakeknife ignored his handlers and did things he should not have done: “Very serious risks were run.”

Boutcher’s exhaustive £40m ($50m) inquiry explored more than 50 murders including more than a dozen connected to Stakeknife. Although Operation Kenova submitted 28 files to the Public Prosecution Service, they decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any former IRA member or British soldier.

The Provisional IRA - believed to be responsible for about 1,700 deaths - grew suspicious of Freddie Scappaticci around 1990, leading to his unit's stand-down. Scappaticci always denied being a British spy. He died in 2023, age 77, and was never charged or convicted of murder.