© LAW ENFORCEMENT PICTURE LIBRARY
© KEVIN FULTON
Eye Spy talks to former British Army intelligence agents who pitted their wits against a most deadly opponent - the PROVOS
interview By Steve McManus
Sir John Stevens led investigation on suspected collusion
revelations led to the unmasking of the FRU’s alleged highest-placed PIRA informant, Freddie Scappaticci, codenamed ‘Stakeknife’. His book provides a revealing account of collusion by the British Army in the targeting and murder of members of the PIRA, and of how innocent and the not so innocent were allegedly sacrificed to protect the FRU’s highlyplaced sources.
RULES OF THE GAME Martin Ingram - Out of the Shadows Easter Monday, 20 April 1987, was like any other bank holiday in the seaside town of Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. The crowds were enjoying the beautiful sunshine. The town had attracted a large but peaceful crowd, young and old, families with children, all intent on making the most of the public holiday.
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Freddie Scappaticci has denied he is agent Stakeknife
this outrage became even more shocking when it was discovered that one of the gunmen and the man who supplied the getaway motorcycle were both operatives and informers on the payroll of the British Army. They were agents of the now infamous Force Research Unit (FRU), a shadowy group that ran undercover agents in both the Republican and Loyalist terror organisations.
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...at risk from those involved in terrorism and shunned by those he once worked with; the life of a whistle blower is a precarious one...
© KEVIN FULTON
a favourite exit route for gled with the happy crowds. verseeing assassins both However, hidden amongst protection that the crowds were members of Republican and Loyalist day was Royal Ulster Constabu- a Provisional Irish Republican operating in the Province. Army (PIRA) assassination lary (RUC) Inspector Ead left behind a Inspector Dave Ead, a 17-year team. As Ead made his way wife Christine and two young along the promenade the veteran in the RUC who had daughters. They became gunmen approached the joined the force in 1970. statistics in one of the inspector from behind bloodiest periods of what Ead was content that policing seconds later they fired was going according to plan. several shots into the back of have been dubbed, “The the unsuspecting officer. Ead Troubles”. He started to make his way fell to the ground, mortally back to the town’s police The murder of any British station; the short walk would wounded. In the ensuing police officer is a shocking panic, the gunmen made take him along the sunny their escape on a motorbike, and brutal crime. However, promenade where he min-
In his book, Stakeknife, former FRU agent handler Martin Ingram made public for the first time the full extent of FRU operations in the province, including the murder of Inspector Ead. His
Since writing his book in 2004, Martin Ingram has ‘gone to ground’ at risk from those involved in terrorism and shunned by those he once worked with; the life of a whistle blower is a precarious one. When his book was published Ingram said it would be his last word on the subject. However a request from detectives from the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI, formerly the RUC), who are investigating the murder of Inspector Ead, drew Martin Ingram out of the shadows. On 31 January 2005, Ingram, along with former FRU agent Kevin
A former troop bar - now derelict
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A rare look at the crest of the secret unit intelligenge gathering unit known as the ‘FRU’
Martin Ingram and Kevin Fulton Fulton, travelled to London’s Charing Cross Police Station to talk to detectives. Ingram had been under court order not to speak to any police officer regarding murders he had information on. This would suggest to the more cynical - that someone or some agency - had something to hide. After pressure from the PSNI, the terms of the injunction were varied and Ingram was allowed to
discuss the case with detectives. Eye Spy was granted an exclusive interview with Martin Ingram and I travelled to central London to meet with him and Kevin Fulton. Martin Ingram is identified as MI, Kevin Fulton KF, and myself as SM. MI: Stakeknife was published just over a year ago. It
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