THE CHIEF CONSTABLE of Bedfordshire Police, who will lead an investigation into more than 50 murders linked to a British army spy in the IRA, has pledged to leave no stone unturned in his quest for truth and justice.
Last October, the PSNI was directed to open investigations into Freddie Scappaticci, who was known as Stakeknife.
Bedfordshire Police Chief Jon Boutcher has agreed to take on the independent investigation of the high-ranking mole.
It will investigate whether members of the police, security services or other government agencies committed criminal acts because of links to the mole.
The probe into the crimes is to be funded by the PSNI but staffed by external officers, the police service in the North has said it won’t interfere with the investigation into Stakeknife.
It’s expected to take at least five years and cost almost €40 million.
West Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci was outed as a British spy in the 1990s by the BBC but has always strongly denied being ‘Stakeknife’.
The probe will also investigate whether members of the British Army, Security Services or other government agencies committed criminal acts as a consequence of their links with ‘Stakeknife’.
Other IRA members linked to the killings will also be investigated.
Anthony McIntyre is a former IRA member who knew ‘Stakeknife’ in the 1970s. Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime this evening, the writer and historian said:
I doubt it will produce to the extent that people want and particularly the families…I wouldn’t be hopeful … I don’t think the British state have any inclination to seriously investigate their own police services.
“You have to stop somewhere rather than start somewhere … we have never ever got one British soldier or member of the RUC in court over this dispute despite all the commitments.
I also suspect that this is as much an exercise in trying to embarrass the Sinn Féin leadership as it is trying to bring out British people responsible.
RTÉ Radio 1 / SoundCloud
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