Former MI5 Agent Questions Police Secrecy Over Death of IRA Informer

Freddie Scappaticci, a high-profile IRA man believed to have been an army agent known as Stakeknife, died earlier this month

Screengrab taken from PA Video of Jon Boutcher on Oct. 26, 2020. PA Media

A former MI5 agent has questioned why British authorities kept the death of a high-profile IRA informer secret for more than a week.

Martin McGartland, who infiltrated the Provisional IRA during the Troubles, said police investigating Freddie Scappaticci had a duty to inform the public of his death “immediately.”