'Stakeknife' Scappaticci secures gagging order
Belfast Telegraph
Suspected British spy Freddie Scappaticci has succeeded in getting a High Court injunction banning the media in Northern Ireland from revealing details of his identity or whereabouts.
The former IRA man, who was accused of being double agent Stakeknife in 2003, took the action against Independent News and Media Limited - The Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life - and MGM Limited which owns The Mirror.
Mr Justice Weir granted the injunction, which applies to all media, after the west Belfast republican's solicitor submitted a draft order to the High Court in Belfast yesterday with a number of requests regarding publication of his details.
Among the information banned from publication by the order was:
- Any proposed new name for Scappaticci;
- His address or any details which may lead to information on his whereabouts;
- Any image made or taken of him from May 11 2003 onwards;
- The nature and location of his employment;
- Any image made or taken of any place or premises he attends or has links with;
- Any description of accommodation in which Scappaticci lives.
Scappaticci, once head of the IRA's internal security unit known as the 'nutting squad', has consistently denied the spy allegations first levelled against him in a number of Sunday newspapers on May 11, 2003.
The top level republican was accused of being Stakeknife, a double agent working for the British at the heart of the IRA for more than 25 years.
Legal representatives for both MGM Limited and Independent News and Media Limited told the court that they did not object to the terms of the injunction. The court was told of confusion over the action because none of the newspapers involved had intended or were seeking to publish information about Scappaticci. Read more
db: Over at Slugger [see comments] Martin Ingram - co-author of the Stake Knife book - claims that the order is designed to protect Freddie's new ID given to him by HMG.
We are told that there are certain internet web sites that don't take gagging orders all that seriously - sadly we are not one of them. The photograph of Scappaticci below - taken 14th May 2003 and hence BANNED - has been modified in the lab to protect us.
Any similarity between this photograph and Mr Scappaticci's new identity is coincidental.
Suspected British spy Freddie Scappaticci has succeeded in getting a High Court injunction banning the media in Northern Ireland from revealing details of his identity or whereabouts.
The former IRA man, who was accused of being double agent Stakeknife in 2003, took the action against Independent News and Media Limited - The Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life - and MGM Limited which owns The Mirror.
Mr Justice Weir granted the injunction, which applies to all media, after the west Belfast republican's solicitor submitted a draft order to the High Court in Belfast yesterday with a number of requests regarding publication of his details.
Among the information banned from publication by the order was:
- Any proposed new name for Scappaticci;
- His address or any details which may lead to information on his whereabouts;
- Any image made or taken of him from May 11 2003 onwards;
- The nature and location of his employment;
- Any image made or taken of any place or premises he attends or has links with;
- Any description of accommodation in which Scappaticci lives.
Scappaticci, once head of the IRA's internal security unit known as the 'nutting squad', has consistently denied the spy allegations first levelled against him in a number of Sunday newspapers on May 11, 2003.
The top level republican was accused of being Stakeknife, a double agent working for the British at the heart of the IRA for more than 25 years.
Legal representatives for both MGM Limited and Independent News and Media Limited told the court that they did not object to the terms of the injunction. The court was told of confusion over the action because none of the newspapers involved had intended or were seeking to publish information about Scappaticci. Read more
db: Over at Slugger [see comments] Martin Ingram - co-author of the Stake Knife book - claims that the order is designed to protect Freddie's new ID given to him by HMG.
We are told that there are certain internet web sites that don't take gagging orders all that seriously - sadly we are not one of them. The photograph of Scappaticci below - taken 14th May 2003 and hence BANNED - has been modified in the lab to protect us.
Any similarity between this photograph and Mr Scappaticci's new identity is coincidental.
posted by exoplanet at 4:14 PM
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