the famous sta keknife. he was obviously someone who had access to the higher levels of the ira. an ira spy catcher skilled at interrogating suspected informers. an ira enforcer and executioner. there's not one killing that freddie scappaticci was involved in that the ira did not sanction. freddie scappaticci denied his double life when exposed. i am not guilty of any of these allegations. his death was announced while a multimillion—pound police investigation into his activities is ongoing. much is unknown about freddie scappaticci's life in the shadows. butjust one single episode exposed how he operated inside the ira while on the state's books. this is a story of a spy who got away with murder. west belfast in the 1980s. an irish republican enclave where many were subject to the ira's rules. such warnings to so—called touts were frequently borne out. archive: charlie mcllmurray's body was found in this van on sunday. i charlie mcilmurray, a west belfast taxi driver, suspected of being a tout — slang for an informer — was shot dead in 1987. i think that mr mcilmurray, like anyone else living in west belfast, knows that the consequence for informing is death. i mean, if republican activists, who know what the repercussions are for going over to the other side, in fact go over to the other side, then they more than anyone else are totally and absolutely aware of what the penalty for doing that is. death? death, certainly. freddie scappaticci was under orders to enforce the ira's rules for so—called traitors. scappaticci was once secretly recorded explaining his technique for extracting confessions. within the ira, informers were despised figures. the fear of being accused of being an informer was probably the worst thing imaginable in the ira. i mean, what circle of hell could dante have created for the informer? this was... ..an awful allegation to have to put up with, and for an informer�*s family, the stigma was powerful. can you think of a worse crime to be guilty of than informing? no. in west belfast, the ira's summary justice was dispensed in alleyways. archive: in a statement, _ the ira said they shot joseph fenton because he was what they called a british agent. _ joe fenton, a suspected informer, had first been interrogated in this house before his execution. it's also where, several months later, another suspected informer, sandy lynch, was brought to. his account of what happened to him gives us the greatest insight into scappaticci at work as a spy catcher. an actor is giving voice to edited extracts of what lynch told the authorities about his ordeal. i belonged to the provisional irish republican army. the unit was under control of the belfast brigade. sean maguire was second—in—command. i entered the house. maguire was walking behind me. i went up the stairs 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. for a time, the ira "disappeared" suspected informers. but shooting and burying people in bogs or shallow graves did not solve the ira's problem with leaks. in the mid—1970s, it's alleged that gerry adams was among those who reorganised the ira. gerry adams drew up a blueprint for a restructured ira, based on four—man cells, asus — active service units. these gave improved security. they were independent, separated by cut—offs and far harder to penetrate by our own informers. gerry adams has consistently denied being a member of the ira and refutes the allegations that he was among those who reorganised it. in 1978, the ira set up a security unit to flush out spies. freddie scappaticci joined the new security unit. the twist is that the ira man who became one of the ira's spy catchers was already a british army agent. code name — stakeknife. the famous stakeknife was handed on to me in 1978 as being an important person. that year, david ramsbotham was the army commander in belfast. he was there when i arrived. i mean, he'd already started giving information, and i was briefed that my responsibility was, every time stakeknife made contact, to make certain that we had a handler who knew him on tap so that stakeknife always saw a soldier that he knew. scappaticci was handled with care because he was worth it. he had access to every ira department. he knew who was on the up, personal weaknesses, insights that could prove useful for turning others. he even vetted new recruits. the unit designed to protect the ira was, in effect, a gift to its enemy. the moment anything from stakeknife came in, we knew it had to be handed on immediately. it was definitely high—grade, about policy, rather than low—grade, about who was going to be attacked by a bomb or a pistol. i mean, he was obviously someone who had access to the higher levels of the ira. scappaticci had such access not least because informer death sentences had to be authorised by one of the ira's seven—person army council, such as martin mcguinness. in a two—year period, beginning may 1980, more ira members were killed by the ira's own internal security than by the police and army. even ira inmates knew of the security unit's fearsome reputation. in prison, anthony mcintyre raised his concerns with a senior republican. there were stories coming in. i made the point, you know, like this internal security seems to have far too much power, and hejust said to me, "do you realise the amount of times "that the internal security unit "have saved the army council?" now, i didn't think much about it at the time. in later years, i've come to the view that that's perhaps what the internal security unit's real raison d'etre was, the real purpose was to protect the army council. the british wanted that army council post—1983 in place because they knew that the army council were assets, and i differentiate between assets and agents here, that they were assets in as far as they were going to deliver a solution. former ira prisoner gerard hodgins knew scappaticci to be part of the ira's security unit. i would have first bumped into freddie scappaticci from about 1986 onwards when i was initially working with sinn fein in west belfast and then the republican press centre, as well as my other duties. he's just somebody i knew from the ira and i would just be somebody he would know from the ira. in west belfast, he frequently met martin mcguinness and other senior ira figures. on the day of their meeting, freddie scappaticci would come in and hang about the press centre before heading on round to wherever northern command has theirs. the meetings gave scappaticci an extraordinary insight into the structure of the ira's northern command. freddie scappaticci was not the only well—placed long—running agent within the ira. but what marks his double life apart from others is that we know some of what he was never held accountable for, remarkably from another spy in the ira, sandy lynch. in the room where sandy lynch 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 "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. 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, additional manpower was needed. gerard hodgins was told, along with others, to go to the house. i had no idea that his name was sandy lynch at this time. we were just told to go to a house and babysit a guy who was an informer. when we went through the door, there was men coming down the stairs. sean maguire, freddie scappaticci. maguire, i bumped into him right at the bottom of the stairs and he looked up at the room where sandy was and he went like that, you know, which to me was sort of saying he should be shot there, you know? but sandy lynch survived. police raided the house, arresting gerard hodgins and others. those who'd already left included sean maguire and freddie scappaticci. scappaticci had, however, left something behind — fingerprints on the battery 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. in custody, he broke an ira rule — he spoke under questioning. i represented fred scappaticci. there was an allegation that he was connected to the house via a fingerprint...or fingerprints, i can't remember. and he gave a prepared statement which, in itself, was unusual for anyone connected to the ira to make statements in castlereagh holding centre. and secondly, he was released without charge. at that time, i was relatively inexperienced, i didn't see anything particularly unusual other than that was the system working its way through, police took a view that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. on reflection years later, i have to seriously question that decision. on the face of it, there was probably sufficient evidence to charge him, prosecute him and remand him into custody. that didn't happen. we know now why that didn't happen. and in a nutshell, why? because he was an agent. freddie scappaticci is thought to be linked to the murders of over 20 people. decades on, he did have a day in court. archive: freddie scappaticci, who is alleged to have been . the army's highest—ranking ira- agent, has been given a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to possessing over 300| extreme pornographic images. that was the only charge brought against him by officers of operation kenova, a multi—million—pound criminal investigation led byjon boutcher, a former chief constable of bedfordshire, into the activities of the army agent known as stakeknife. a catalyst for operation kenova was the sandy lynch case, because the omission of crucial information from prosecuting authorities in that case eventually exposed the existence of secrets that had been concealed. barra mcgrory, a former director of public prosecutions in northern ireland, was among those integral to the setting up of operation kenova. the decision to prosecute any criminal charge is one for the director of public prosecutions, and the director of public prosecutions alone. in the wake of the sandy lynch episode, a decision to prosecute those arrested was taken in the absence of all relevant material. information and material which was integral to the events, which should have been before the then—director of public prosecutions, who was sir alasdair fraser qc, my predecessor, was withheld from the director. and which, had it been made available to him, would most likely have led the then—director to the conclusion that he shouldn't prosecute. so, while my initial concern was in respect of the deception of the director of public prosecutions, it escalated into a concern in respect of the potential covering up of up to 20—plus murders. and that's what ultimately led to kenova. the convictions of eight people, including gerard hodgins, had already been quashed. but the contents of the file which was withheld all those years ago has never been made public. what was kept secret has remained secret. to this day, we still don't know what's contained within that. it may well contain reference to fred scappaticci and/or others. we don't know. 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. the ira leadership's reason for not killing, not executing freddie scappaticci back in 1990, erm, in my view, was a result of a need to save their own skin. the ira were keenly aware that every interaction they had with freddie scappaticci, every order they give to kill, every order they give to kidnap, every order they give to interrogate or torture, freddie scappaticci had passed that on to the british, and also that freddie scappaticci may have recorded this and that they were in deep, serious trouble. in 2003, freddie scappaticci publicly denied he was stakeknife after being named as the agent by several newspapers. i am not guilty of any of these allegations. i have not left northern ireland since i was challenged by reporters on saturday night. nobody had the decency to ask me if any of these allegations were true. his death means he will never speak his truth. i don't think freddie took any secrets to his grave. i think they're very well—known. they're not known by me, but they're known by his handlers and they're known by the leadership of the ira — in my view, the people who have most to fear from operation kenova are probably those people who served on the army council and ordered the killings. as some people see it, this episode is one of those times where parts of the state and the ira are on the same side in terms of having a vested interest in keeping... ..keeping it a secret for a long, long time. well, what i would say about that is that the truth of this story isn't comfortable for anybody. it isn't comfortable for anybody, so... ..when it is told, whenever that is... ..erm, there will be a lot of uncomfortable people. an operation kenova report due to be published later this year may shine a light on details long kept in the dark about the activities of agent stakeknife, including what was known about the interrogation of suspected informers before they occurred. as i understand it, there is a potential assertion that every single case that's a subject of the operation kenova investigation, in every single killing, that those deaths were preventable had there been some form of state intervention. now, that's a pretty stark assessment to make. and we're going to know that very, very soon, whether or not that stands up to scrutiny. jon boutcher declined to be interviewed for this programme. his report is currently in what's described as the security checking stage. the ministry of defence told spotlight, "as the investigation is ongoing, "it would be inappropriate to comment further." sean maguire, known to many as mag uidhir, now works as a senior sinn fein press officer. his solicitor told spotlight that his client was interviewed under caution by the operation kenova investigation team in november 2018. he denied any allegation that he was involved in the unlawful imprisonment and conspiracy to murder sandy lynch in 1990. freddie scappaticci died in his 70s — a long life denied to his victims. but some secrets do not stay buried, and secrets from what many believe to be one of the murkiest episodes of the troubles may yet come into the light. hello there. it's been a promising start to the day across many parts of the country, with some sunshine, a few showers around too. but if we look out in the atlantic, this weather system is pushing in the cloud, and that's going to be bringing some rain to some parts of the country. around that first area of low pressure, we've had the showers swirling across scotland and northern england. the worst of those are moving away. so fewer showers and still some sunshine into the afternoon, but wetter weather is arriving in the south—west of england and wales, pushing into northern ireland, towards the midlands and also across to the south—east of england. and it could be quite windy, actually, for the time of year across england and wales. lighter winds for scotland and northern ireland. and in the sunshine in scotland, it shouldn't feel too bad. highest temperatures in eastern england, ahead of that rain. but it looks like that rain is going to be heading towards the oval. the morning session sees the best of the weather. if we don't get the rain in the afternoon session, it's certainly going to be arriving after tea. that steadier rain pushing its way across more of england and wales and northern ireland late afternoon and into the evening. and that wet weather continues to journey northwards into parts of scotland. further south, the rain does ease off later on in the night, but we keep a lot of cloud, so it's going to be a warm start to monday. northernmost parts of scotland a little chillier, with the clearer skies, but the promise of some early sunshine to start the new week. but the weather is going to be driven by that area of low pressure that's focusing most of the rain. we still have that weather front, though, sitting through the english channel. so cloud and rain here moving on to the south coast at times, threatening the south—east of england. the rain affects more of scotland through the day, and it gets wetter again across northern ireland, northern parts of england and wales. but further south, maybe a slice of something a bit drier, and eventually brighter, with some sunshine. but as you can see, it's not particularly warm for this time of the year once again. low pressure continues to drive in across the uk and it's pushed in on these upper winds. this is the jet stream, and with the jet to the south of the uk, we're in cooler air. as one area of low pressure gets moved away, another one comes in as we arrive into wednesday. that will bring some wet weather, especially across england and wales. and the start of august isn't really going to get any warmer because, as the rain clears away later in the week, we end up with a northerly breeze. live from london — this is bbc news. the leaders of the coup in niger say their regional neighbours could be about to stage an imminent military intervention. president putin praises the might of russia's navy, but doesn't dismiss the idea of ukraine peace talks. road row — britain's prime minister insists he's on the side of car—drivers, calling for �*anti—motorist�* measures to be reviewed. kenya considers sending 1,000 police officers to haiti to lead a multinational peace—keeping force. and farewell to the football ferns — co—hosts new zealand are knocked out of the women's world cup. hello, i'm rich preston. we start in niger where thousands of people have gathered in the streets of the capital niamey to protest outside the french embassy. protesters have responded to a call from the leaders of this week's military coup, who also denounced the upcoming meeting between leaders from across west africa on the situation. in a statement, the soldiers are warning of what they call military intervention. soldiers announced the military takeover on wednesday, detaining the president mohamed bazoum. on friday, the head of the presidential guards unit, general abdourahmane tchiani, declared himself niger's new leader,

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