More lives lost than saved in Troubles due to British spy, report finds

Stakeknife report finds army’s top agent’s links to murder and torture and calls for government and IRA to apologise

More lives were lost than saved because of the activities of a man alleged to have been the highest-ranking British intelligence agent in the IRA during the Northern Ireland Troubles, according to a seven-year investigation into his activities.

The Kenova report published on Friday finds that the agent Stakeknife saved “between high single figures and low double figures” lives but “nowhere near hundreds [as] sometimes claimed”.