Anger has been expressed by the families of victims upon hearing that a past double agent of Britain held within the IRA, who is accused of admitting to murders during training sessions for security personnel, will not face prosecution.
This case came to light amidst an investigation by officers pertaining to the acts of Stakeknife, a British espionage agent within the IRA. A criminal file was forwarded to Northern Ireland’s prosecution service.
Despite not being Stakeknife, the spy, who was moved out of Northern Ireland, had played a supportive role to the British forces by giving talks to novice agent operators and extra security personnel. His training talks supposedly included confessions to serious felonies, including homicide; however, no investigation or charges for any crime were exerted on the English agent at that point.
Officers who were operating under Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who led Operation Kenova’s probing into Stakeknife, well-known as ex-enforcer for IRA security Freddie Scappaticci, took over the case. One of the 35 files handed over to Northern Ireland’s prosecutor’s office regarding this agent’s alleged confessions during his training talks, has been discarded.
Saying they decided against charges for the case based on “evidential grounds,” the public prosecutor’s service spokesperson for Northern Ireland (PPSNI) made no further comments.
Kevin Winters, the attorney for the affected victims’ families due to the involvements of British agents in the IRA, expressed that the prosecution’s decision to not indict the person was “of monumental importance.” Making it clear about the magnitude of this comical scenario, Winters pointed out the ludicrousness of a visibly criminal action not being pursued by a significant prosecution, which also includes security force attendees who heard the confessions. He referred to the situation as an extreme injustice.
In response to the recent news, it wouldn’t be surprising if we were taken aback, however, truth be told, our reaction is quite the contrary. This is entirely in line with prior similar judgments.
Winters is seeking a reconsideration by the court of the decision by prosecutors not to press charges over the 1983 murder of Anthony Braniff, 22, falsely implicated as a British informant by the IRA. Commenting on this recent turn of events, he said it will be factored into the ongoing high court review against the PPS.
A representative from Operation Kenova confirmed the thorough investigation of the allegations. Although the inception of Operation Kenova was seven years prior, after gathering 1,000 witness testimonies, 50,000 pages of proof, and £40m in expenses, a conviction is yet to be made.
The investigating officers have probed into 101 murders and kidnappings related to the IRA’s “nutting squad” with one of the main agents being Scappaticci. He was a central figure interrogating and executing those under suspicion of leaking information to British security services. It was later revealed that British security services had deeply infiltrated the IRA unit.
According to a temporary report released in March, Operation Kenova concluded the occurrence of “preventable and serious offences”. This included instances of “killings carried out by agents, including situations where an agent assassinated another”. The officers unearthed “no indications that the authorities contemplated about holding these agents accountable for their criminal deeds”.
Boutcher, previously the chief constable of Bedfordshire police, who is now the chief constable of the Northern Ireland Police Service, published his report due to the sluggish progression of criminal prosecutions. He expressed at the time that he was “conscious of the persuasive evidence in many of these cases and felt prompt decisions about prosecutions were paramount to maintaining public trust”.
Boutcher acknowledged the potential hurdles of historical prosecutions. However, he was also critical about the PPS not being equipped to handle such cases due to the lack of a sufficiently funded specialist team to manage the large and intricate historical casework. He commented, “PPSNI lacks the financial support required to administer the legal procedure to achieve optimal and timely solutions for the families in Northern Ireland”. – The Guardian