sandy lynch eventually broke. he admitted he was a police informer. his blindfold was taken off, his hands untied so that he could write a statement admitting his guilt. i was told that if i wanted to make a plea for lenience from the leadership, saying why i shouldn t be shot, to go ahead. the next morning, scappaticci returned. sandy lynch recorded his statement. i was told that if all went well, that i would be home soon. a trademark line to suspected informers, when the reality, in fact, was stark. by late saturday night,
of an anti bugging device. a police fingerprint expert said he was certain that the imprint was made by frederick scappaticci. sandy lynch, who d been a police informer, agreed to give evidence in court before he entered a protection programme. his testimony was key to the conviction of eight people on kidnapping and interrogation charges, but one accusation he made never led to a charge. his testimony included freddie scappaticci s admission aboutjoe fenton. he said that he had done it. but scappaticci was, it seems, untouchable, because by the time he was arrested, it was in connection with his fingerprint and he d already concocted a false alibi.
and someone was behind me. someone who i believed was scappaticci. sandy lynch was in freddie scappaticci s sights. we entered a room at the top of the stairs. maguire and i were talking. the room was in darkness. ifelt a hand on the back of my head, and i was pushed down onto a bed and i heard a voice saying, ira security. sandy lynch was stripped, blindfolded and tied up. i was searched from head to foot. and i felt something which i believed to be a metal detector going over my body. and i heard a voice. scappaticci said, this thing was going haywire. for over an hour, according to sandy lynch, others in the room taunted him. one of them told me that he enjoyed his work and that he would break me. a voice said the only way i would leave the room was to be taken out and shot. fora time,
was being interrogated, scappaticci upped the ante. he said, do you know who i am, sandy? i said, yes. he said, you know me, but i don t give two bleep because where you re going, you ll not be telling no one. when he was speaking to me, he stood with his elbows on my shoulders and his chin on my head. and then scappaticci spoke ofjoe fenton, who d been shot dead only months earlier. he said, you ll get it like fenton. he said that he had done it. according to sandy lynch, an admission from freddie scappaticci that he had shotjoe fenton.
what s also unknown is if other criminal cases were prosecuted where crucial information was withheld. i suppose it s a fair question, that if it happened once, could it happen again? and the answer has to be yes. but that is why i was so exercised to have this matter fully investigated. but for some people, the possibility that it could have happened in other cases is an appalling vista. it is an appalling vista. in the wake of the sandy lynch episode, freddie scappaticci s position in the ira was beginning to wane. those at the top of the ira know exactly when they cast their spy catcher into the cold, but scappaticci did not meet the same end brutally exacted on others.