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The Spy Who
The Spy Who

The Spy Who Jailed the Omagh Bomb Plotter | Inside Britain's Vast Espionage Network | 2

January 27, 2026 • 36m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

This final episode of The Spy Who explores the controversial case of Stakeknife, a high-ranking IRA member who secretly worked as a British intelligence agent while allegedly involved in interrogating and killing suspected informants. Host Charlie Higson speaks with journalist Cara McGugan about the recently released Kenova Report, which reveals how MI5 allowed their agents to participate in murders to maintain cover, raising troubling questions about British intelligence operations during the Troubles and whether more lives were lost than saved through these spy networks.

The Kenova Report and Stakeknife's Identity

The Operation Kenova investigation concluded after eight years and nearly 50 million pounds, examining the activities of Stakeknife, widely believed to be Freddy Scappaticci. The report found he was involved in 14 murders and 15 abductions as part of the IRA's Nutting Squad, which rooted out and killed suspected spies—while he himself was a British agent. Remarkably, the UK still refuses to officially confirm that Stakeknife and Scappaticci are the same person, maintaining a policy of "neither confirm nor deny" despite the evidence being widely known.

  • Stakeknife was found to have been involved in 14 murders and 15 abductions while working as an MI5 agent
  • He was part of the IRA's Nutting Squad, which rooted out and killed spies within the IRA while he himself was a spy
  • MI5 was aware of Stakeknife's activities and paid him tens of thousands of pounds, including helping him buy a car and house
  • The UK government refuses to officially confirm Freddy Scappaticci was Stakeknife, despite widespread evidence
" MI5 was aware of what Stake Knife was doing, and this was viewed as acceptable. He was paid tens of thousands of pounds for his work, including at certain points being helped to buy a car and a house. "
" you don't get intelligence from the IRA by making the tea "

More Lives Lost Than Saved

A disturbing paradox emerged from the investigation: Stakeknife's intelligence work resulted in more deaths than it prevented. MI5 handlers were informed about planned interrogations and murders but chose not to intervene to protect his cover. The intelligence gathered wasn't used to stop attacks or bring perpetrators to justice, raising fundamental questions about whether such agents should have been deployed at all.

  • Stakeknife informed handlers about planned interrogations and their locations, but MI5 didn't intervene to save lives in order to protect his cover
  • Lives were deliberately allowed to be lost to maintain the agent's cover within the IRA
  • The intelligence wasn't operationally useful for preventing attacks since Stakeknife wasn't involved in planning bombing operations
  • Intelligence from agents was neither used to stop attacks nor bring attackers to justice afterwards
" there are times when Stakeknife has told his handlers that a certain person is going to be interrogated and the location of that interrogation. And his handlers have been well aware of that, but they haven't intervened to stop the killing from happening. "

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