Kenova report: MI5’s role in IRA agent ‘Stakeknife’
If you’re trying to make sense of why the Stakeknife story matters, start here: the final Operation Kenova report, published on 9 December 2025, says MI5 was closely involved in handling a British agent inside the IRA’s internal security unit, challenging earlier claims its role was only peripheral. That conclusion sits at the centre of a long, painful debate about what states should and shouldn’t do in a conflict.
Who was Stakeknife? You’ll see officials avoid naming him because of NCND (Neither Confirm Nor Deny), but British media identified the agent years ago as west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, who died in 2023. The report does not name him, yet it sets out how the agent operated within the IRA’s ruthless “internal security” unit and is linked to murders and abductions.
Kenova’s evidence base is large. Investigators logged 3,517 intelligence reports attributed to the agent. The report says these were, time and again, not acted upon, with the protection of the asset apparently placed above the protection of people who could and should have been saved. The interim finding last year that more lives were likely lost than saved is carried through.
Quick glossary for the classroom: NCND means Neither Confirm Nor Deny - a long‑standing UK policy used to avoid publicly naming agents or confirming identities. It’s meant to protect sources and methods. In legacy cases like this, it also blocks families from seeing the state formally acknowledge what they already believe they know.
Kenova also records that MI5 discovered and disclosed additional files in April 2024 after the investigative phase had effectively concluded. Sir Iain Livingstone calls this a serious organisational failure that cost investigative opportunities. An external review by former Met assistant commissioner Helen Ball later found no deliberate withholding but criticised MI5’s information management and approach to disclosure.
MI5’s director general, Sir Ken McCallum, has apologised for the late discoveries and said the service is implementing the review’s recommendations. For learners: an apology does not change the findings, but it does put the agency on record accepting some responsibility for what went wrong administratively.
Specific episodes jump off the page. Army handlers twice took the agent out of Northern Ireland for a “holiday” - flown by military aircraft and given military identification - at times when police wanted to question him for conspiracy to murder and false imprisonment. The report says MI5 was aware. These details only surfaced when the 2024 files were found.
So why won’t the government confirm the agent’s name? Ministers point to ongoing litigation over the NCND policy and argue that identifying agents risks jeopardising national security. Kenova’s author says naming is in the public interest, and PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher (who led Kenova until 2023) calls the refusal “bordering on farce.” This is the live policy clash students should pay attention to: secrecy versus accountability.
What it means for accountability: when NCND is applied, families and communities struggle to build a shared public record. Lawyers representing some families say continued anonymity weakens trust in legacy processes; investigators argue that selective secrecy makes it harder for us to learn the right lessons for future agent handling and oversight.
Troubles context you can teach: around 3,500 people were killed before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement drew a line under the conflict. Understanding that scale helps explain the depth of feeling around cases like Stakeknife - they are not just legal debates but questions about whose lives were protected, whose weren’t, and why.
The report also revisits the 1972 shooting of 24‑year‑old Jean Smyth‑Campbell as she sat in a parked car in west Belfast. After new ballistic work, investigators say she was most likely killed by an unknown IRA member - a conclusion her family disputes, arguing the evidence points towards the Army. This is a practical example for students of how different forms of evidence can lead to different conclusions over time.
Where this goes next: Kenova urges the government to reconsider NCND for this exceptional case and to improve disclosure rules across legacy investigations. Ministers have signalled they will respond after the Supreme Court rules in a related case on NCND. For now, we’re left with a careful truth: the state relied on an agent who committed serious crimes, and the argument about naming him is now a test of how the UK balances security with honesty.