Freshly declassified Irish government documents have exposed that there were serious fears for the mental welfare of the British Army's most valuable agent inside the IRA, known as Stakeknife, with officials warning he was a "danger to himself" in 2003.
Kenova's Damning Verdict on Stakeknife's Legacy
The revelation comes in the wake of the final report from Operation Kenova, a major independent investigation. That report, published earlier this month, concluded that more lives were probably lost than saved through the running of the agent, who is widely reported to be the late west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci.
Stakeknife, who operated within the Provisional IRA's internal security unit, was described as one of the army's "most prized assets" during the Troubles. However, Kenova found he "committed grotesque, serious crime", including torture and murder, while working as an agent. His motivation was linked to avoiding prosecution or financial gain.
Handwritten Note Warned of Suicide Risk
The concerns over his welfare are detailed in files from the National Archives of Ireland, released annually. A typed memo from May 21, 2003, records a phone call between an investigator from the Stevens Inquiry—which examined security force collusion—and an Irish Department of Foreign Affairs official.
The memo, stamped "seen by Taoiseach", was written days after Scappaticci was publicly named. When the Irish official raised "health and safety concerns" for the agent, the Stevens investigator said it was "not our concern" and that MI5 and the PSNI were presumably looking after him.
Crucially, a different official added a handwritten note dated May 22, 2003, which stated: "there are concerns that Stakeknife might now also be a danger to himself (risk of suicide)".
An Unresolved Legacy of the Troubles
Freddie Scappaticci was arrested and interviewed by the Kenova team, with files submitted to prosecutors. He was never charged with Troubles-related offences and always denied any wrongdoing or links to security forces. He died in March 2023, aged 77.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who led Operation Kenova, said Scappaticci remained a critical person of interest and that strong evidence implicated him in serious crimes. Boutcher has also criticised the UK's ongoing refusal to officially identify Stakeknife, calling the position "untenable and bordering on farce".
The interim Kenova finding that Stakeknife's actions likely cost more lives than they saved casts a long shadow over one of the darkest chapters of the Troubles, with the newly released 2003 files adding a poignant layer of personal crisis to the complex story.
