Bereaved family intend to apply to access Scappaticci will

By Rebecca Black, PA

A solicitor has indicated applications will be made at the High Court in Belfast to access the will of a man believed to be the IRA agent known as Stakeknife.

Earlier this week, the High Court in London ruled that the will of Freddie Scappaticci, believed to be Britain’s top agent inside the IRA, will not be made public.

In 2003, media reports claimed that Scappaticci had spied on the IRA for the British government, and that while working for both organisations, “was responsible for the torture and murder of dozens of alleged IRA informers”.

 

Scappaticci, from west Belfast, had always denied the claims before his death aged 77 in 2023.

In a ruling on Monday, Sir Julian Flaux ordered that Scappaticci’s will should be sealed for 70 years, meaning that its contents will not be made public.

The judge said that this is the first time, except for members of the royal family, where a court has ordered that a will not be made open to public inspection in the way the document would usually be.

He said: “There is nothing in the will, which is in fairly standard form, which could conceivably be of interest to the public or the media.”

On Tuesday, solicitor Kevin Winters said his firm acts on behalf of more than 30 plaintiffs in ongoing High Court proceedings against the State and Scappaticci.

He said the existence of a will “points to this man having assets and funds, the origin of which will greatly interest the next of kin of so many murder victims”.

 

“We are now instructed to look at making applications to the High Court in Belfast to access the will,” he said.

“All our clients will have a vested interest in the out workings of its contents as they will likely touch upon liability in the cases, as well as determining which defendant may be liable to pay out damages.

“We shouldn’t forget that, as well as the State agencies, families are suing Freddie Scappaticci on the basis that he’s a mark for damages.

“That entitlement to continue the actions didn’t end with Stakeknife’s death.

“The cases against his estate continue, so we’re interested in the out workings of this testamentary document.”

Mr Winters added that the families “won’t settle in being told that the details of his will are to be shelved for 70 years”.

“They’ve battled for too long now and won’t be easily fobbed off in trying to get more information,” he said.

“Their interest will be piqued all the more on the revelation that a number of years ago we queried Scappaticci’s legal aid status, only to be told that he was in receipt of state benefits.

“We now intend to revisit the circumstances in which this State-funded killer was able to claim State benefits to support his legal aid status in defending the ongoing tranche of cases against him.

“From the sale of his house in Guildford, he presents as a person of means.

“That has to be the subject of an investigation and to that end, we look forward to a renewed judicial scrutiny in Belfast into Stakeknife’s finances.”